


Starlight

by aserenitatum



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Co-Stars AU, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-06-22 13:24:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 71,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15582945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aserenitatum/pseuds/aserenitatum
Summary: “Ready to go, babe?” Stacie asks, sliding her hand along Aubrey’s back, expression softening when Aubrey turns into her body and looks up with a small smile.“Yes,” Aubrey says, slowly leaning in, their noses brushing against each other in a beautifully intimate moment before they kiss slowly, a moment that doesn’t go unnoticed as cameras start flashing in their direction, coming from the horde of photographers following Aubrey and Stacie closely.aka the co-stars/fake dating AU





	1. Enemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god I hate them so much in this chapter
> 
> anyway, you're being dropped right into the action because I've been staring at this story for three months and it all makes sense in my head so if anything is confusing please let me know

Well, well, well! So much for claims that she’ll be forever single! 

**Aubrey Posen** was spotted outside The Bowery Hotel playing tonsil hockey with a previously unidentified brunette. 

I don’t like leaving stones unturned, so I got my best men on it because while it’s definitely not the most _compromising_ position we’ve seen the blonde in, it _is_ surprising who it’s with because it is none other than…  **Stacie Conrad**! 

You read that right, folks! Stacie ‘The Hunter’ Conrad and Aubrey Posen were spotted in a heated lip-lock in New York City on Monday night, and we have all the pictures to prove it. 

Now we know that Stacie Conrad has been spotted with a _LOT_ of different people over her time in Hollywood, but a frenching sesh with Aubrey Posen that hasn’t been talked about on her Twitter is pretty out of the ordinary for the popular brunette. 

Insiders tell me they’re “very close” and it’s beginning to sound more and more like there might be something going on here. Are they going to become the next in a long line of co-stars turned lovers? Exciting!

What do YOU think? Are Aubrey Posen and Stacie the Hunter just making out? Or do you think they could get serious???

 

_**-    TMZ** , November 2017_

 

* * *

 

“I think that my fear going in was that this was somehow going to be seen as a film that would only interest women… and the response from men I found really heartwarming. It has that universal quality that doesn’t make it ‘just an LGBT film’ but a film that appeals to people regardless of their sexual orientation,” Aubrey says, smiles and looks sideways at Stacie adoringly, nods almost imperceptibly to indicate she’s done. 

“I completely agree,” Stacie adds, smiles back at Aubrey. “What I love about the film is that it’s unabashedly romantic and that’s a universal feeling, whether it’s two women or any other combination of genders.” 

The interviewer is smiling at them when they both turn back to look at him.

“Does that answer your question?” Aubrey asks with a coy smile. 

“Absolutely,” he says, looks down at his notebook. “That’s it for me, thank you both so much for taking the time to sit with me.” 

“Is it closing pitch time?” Stacie teases and Aubrey laughs softly and so does the interviewer. 

“Go right ahead,” he says, gestures to the camera set up behind him. 

Stacie turns to look at Aubrey, motions with her hand. “Do you want to—?” 

“You get this one, I’ll do the next.” 

“Alright,” Stacie says with a sweet smile, turns to look at the camera and adjusts her smile slightly to a more relaxed one. “Tipping the Scales opens in theatres December 1st and worldwide on December 25th.”  

She smiles reassuringly one last time at the camera before the interviewer nods, and then she leans back in her chair, turns to find Aubrey still looking at her adoringly. 

“Thank you so much,” the interviewer says as he gets up, shakes their hands. 

“No, thank _you_ ,” Aubrey says with a brilliant smile.  

“Good luck the rest of the day,” he says and then he’s gone. The cameraman starts packing up as Aubrey and Stacie both stand up and start taking off their mics. 

Stacie’s having trouble getting hers off, and after Aubrey hands her microphone pack to the tech guy she steps close to Stacie to help her. 

“Jeez, I can do it myself,” Stacie hisses and Aubrey rolls her eyes. 

“You clearly fucking can’t,” Aubrey whispers into her ear, makes sure the microphone pack is switched off when she says the words and Stacie’s eye roll is immediate. 

Aubrey leaves her to it, walks away and looks over her shoulder long enough to see Stacie smile sweetly at the tech guy and ask for help. She rolls her eyes just as her PA comes over, looking a little afraid as she hands Aubrey her phone and that instantly sets her on edge. 

“Gail wants to see you.” 

“She’s here?” Aubrey asks with a soft groan and she nods. 

“She’s in the conference room next door.” 

“Thanks, Jess, I’ll go right now,” Aubrey says with a tired smile. 

“She wants to see you _and_ Stacie,” Jessica adds and then Aubrey scowls at her. “Don’t look at me like that, I don’t know what she wants.”  

“Fine,” Aubrey sighs. 

“Right next door,” Jessica reminds as she walks away to go talk to Stacie and Aubrey lets out a loud, suffering groan before following the woman’s instructions. 

“Aubrey! My favourite actress!” Gail exclaims loudly when Aubrey enters the conference room. The woman points to the chair on the other side of the table she’s sitting at and Aubrey drops into it, glaring at Gail. “Always such a sunny disposition.” 

“You never summon me unless it’s for something I’m not going to like.” 

“You’re absolutely right,” Gail says with a wide smile and Aubrey reaches up to pinch the bridge of her nose. 

Stacie comes in then, smiling at Gail. 

“Stacie! My favourite actress!” Gail says and Aubrey rolls her eyes. 

“Aww, Gail, I bet you say that to all the girls,” Stacie flirts. 

“She does,” Aubrey interjects and Gail huffs. 

She points to the chair next to Aubrey and Stacie frowns at it because there are about 10 other chairs she could sit in and none of them are next to Aubrey. Gail must be a mind reader, because her voice hardens as she points to the chair again and says, “Sit.” 

“Yeesh, okay,” Stacie mumbles, drops gracelessly onto the chair next to Aubrey. “So what’s up?” 

“I have good news, bad news, and worse news. Which one do you want first?” 

“What could possibly be worse than sitting here?” Stacie asks and Aubrey rolls her eyes, pulls her phone from her pocket and starts scrolling through her notifications. 

“The good news is that Bleecker Street has expanded the distribution of Scales to all of Europe, Asia and Australia!” Gail says excitedly, but neither of the two other women respond to that, stare at Gail blankly. 

“Jonah told us this morning,” Aubrey explains when she sees Gail’s expression falter. 

“Well, there’s just bad news then,” Gail says with a shrug, pushing forwards. “International distribution means international press tour together!” 

“What? Why?!” - “What the fuck?!” 

“It’s in your contracts and a visceral hate for each other doesn’t exempt you from that, or so I’m told by the lawyers,” Gail says dryly, not even flinching at their loud voices or the pair of nasty looks being sent her way. “That’s just the bad news.” 

“We’re already pretending to like each other,” Aubrey sneers. 

“Oh, honeys, it’s so much worse than that,” Gail says and Stacie glares at Gail, the woman’s penchant for dramatic pauses just plain annoying. 

Aubrey suddenly sits up in her chair, mumbles “What the fuck?” under her breath as she scrolls through something on her phone. 

“No…” she whispers, eyes wide as she looks up at Gail with panic. “No!” 

“What?” Stacie snaps, sees Gail’s smile widen and she feels very much out of the loop. 

“No _fucking_ way!”  

“Yes,” Gail says simply. 

“You couldn’t pay me—” 

“We are paying you,” Gail interrupts. “A lot of money. Plus, it’s in your contract.” 

“That’s absurd, that can’t be true,” Aubrey tries to argue but she doesn’t sound too sure of herself anymore. 

“What the fuck is going on?” Stacie yells and Aubrey turns her phone screen towards the woman, sees Stacie’s face fall with horror as she reads through the TMZ article. 

“No!” 

“Where did they even get this picture?” Aubrey asks. 

“It’s unused footage from one of the rehearsals,” Gail explains, waves her hand to show how unimportant it is. 

“I’m not doing this,” Aubrey says. 

“Finally something we can agree on. No way,” Stacie adds sharply. 

“Your agents and managers agreed.” 

“Why are you the one telling us?” Stacie asks, leans back in her chair and crosses her arms. 

“I drew the short stick,” Gail says with a grimace. “Aubrey, honey, you haven’t been in a relationship since, well, ever, and they really want to see you with someone after the whole _Sophia_ thing—” 

Aubrey’s scowl deepens at the name. 

“—and Stacie, your manager wants you to fix your image before starting Voyage.” 

“And I’m supposed to do that with her?” Stacie asks, points at Aubrey. 

“It’s totally doable!” Gail cheers, tries to drum up confidence in the plan, deflates slightly when she’s met with angry stares. “It would only be during the press tour and for a few months after that, mainly awards season.” 

“We can’t stand each other Gail,” Stacie argues. 

“I’m well aware of that.” 

“Everybody knows that we don’t get along,” Aubrey adds. 

“We’ll just say it was all a front for your budding feelings. You have undeniable chemistry, you know?” 

“Gail, are you fucking kidding me?” Aubrey exclaims. 

“This is never going to work,” Stacie says. 

“Plus, we all know she can’t keep it in her pants for that long.” 

“So you’re  _not_ going to have sex with me to sell this?” Stacie says sarcastically.  

“I would rather die.” 

“At least then I wouldn’t have to listen to your fucking yammering all the time.” 

“What, are you upset because it’s not always the Stacie Conrad show?” 

“As if—”  

“Enough!” Gail yells and they both turn to her, cross their arms defensively. “Figure something out. You’re promoting a beautiful love story and everybody loves a good on-set romance. You’ll just keep doing what you’re doing now, plus occasionally post some things on Twitter and Instagram and talk about each other in interviews. It’s not that hard and you’re both professionals. Sell it well enough and then you never have to see each other again.” 

“So that’s it? We get no say in the matter?” Stacie asks dejectedly. 

“No.” Gail sits back, watches as the two women mull over the information, before getting up with a smile. “Okay then. Back to work!” she says cheerfully. “And I’d like some sort of confirmation on social media before week’s end.” 

She doesn’t wait for a response, leaves the room and as soon as she’s gone, Aubrey growls under her breath as she reaches for her phone again. 

“Can you even do this?” Stacie sneers but Aubrey is entirely unaffected by it as she reads through her messages. 

“I pretended to be in love with you, didn’t I? I know how to fucking act,” Aubrey shoots back and Stacie rolls her eyes. 

“‘I went to Juilliard’,” Stacie mimics under her breath mockingly and shoots her a nasty look. “We need to figure out our story.” 

“Why?” 

“So that when people ask about it we don’t trip each other up,” Stacie says, the ‘duh’ going unspoken. 

“None of your boyfriends ever taught you how to improvise? That explains so much,” Aubrey taunts. 

“Fuck you, Aubrey,” Stacie says, getting up from her chair and Aubrey smiles at the words, goes back to her phone with a triumphant smile as Stacie leaves the conference room. 

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Ashley,” Jessica says, runs up to the brunette as she reaches out to gently touch the woman’s shoulder. 

“Hey!” Ashley says, slows down her brisk pace to let the blonde catch up with her. “What’s up?” 

“I don’t know if Stacie told you, about the—” 

“—fake dating? Yeah,” Ashley says with a laugh. “That’s gonna be hilarious.” 

Jessica shrugs, quirks her mouth. “I don’t know…” 

She trails off and there’s an awkward beat of silence as they walk to the coffee machines, until Ashley speaks again. 

“So did you want to talk to me about something, or…?” she asks, eyes going wide when Jessica’s expression falters. “Not that I don’t enjoy the company!” 

Jessica smiles, looks down at the coffee machine. “I figured it might be easier if we exchanged numbers. I already do most of Aubrey’s Instagram posts anyway so it’s probably easier if you like, just send me candids of Stacie and stuff,” Jessica says with a shrug, focusing intently on the coffee and missing the way Ashley smiles at her. 

“That would be great. As long as you also send me Aubrey pics to post.” 

“Definitely. Sounds like we’re gonna have to pretend to be in a relationship for them,” Jessica teases and Ashley laughs. 

“I look forward to it,” Ashley says with a wide grin that Jessica can’t help but mirror. 

 

* * *

 

“You’re going to have to kiss,” Ashley stresses and both Stacie and Aubrey turn to her with a frown. 

“What? Why?” Stacie immediately asks. 

“Why can’t we just take a selfie together?” Aubrey tries to argue but Jessica’s already shaking her head. 

“That won’t work, it’s not believable,” Jessica explains. 

“People will think you’re just doing it because of the TMZ article,” Ashley says. 

“Plus there are already a lot of selfies of you because you’re in a movie together,” Jessica adds and Ashley nods. 

“I’m only doing this once,” Stacie says, shooting Aubrey a nasty glare. 

“Do you have my toothbrush nearby?” Aubrey asks Jessica who has to stifle a laugh when Stacie takes a second to get it and then looks incredibly insulted. 

“Should we do like a boomerang or a video?” Ashley asks, leaning closer to Jessica as she holds up Stacie’s phone, Instagram camera ready to go. 

“Just a video,” Jessica says with a nod.

“Okay,” Ashley says, looks up at the two actresses. “Now kiss like you mean it.” 

Stacie rolls her eyes, but when she turns to look at Aubrey, the woman’s licking her lips and looks ready. 

“Ready?” Stacie asks but then Aubrey leans in and kisses her, nips at her lips quickly a few times and it’s not exactly passionate but it is intimate. 

“Perfect!” Ashley calls out suddenly and they spring apart, turn to look at their PAs. 

“Oh that’s really nice,” Jessica says, looking at the video over Ashley’s shoulder. 

“It is, isn’t it?” Ashley gushes. 

“Maybe put a filter on it?” 

“Ooh, how about—” 

“Are we done here?” Aubrey interrupts impatiently. 

“Oh, yeah, totally,” Jessica says quickly and Aubrey and Stacie shoot away from each other, making the other two women laugh. 

“I’m gonna post it.” 

“Tag Aubrey in it,” Jessica says and Ashley nods, grins. 

“This is going to be so good.” 

 

* * *

 

“Chloe’s on the phone for you,” Jessica says as she hands Aubrey her cellphone. “She has words.” 

“Oh no,” Aubrey sighs but lifts the phone to hear ear anyway as she silently mouths “Thank you” to Jessica. “Chlo?” 

“You’re dating Stacie Conrad?” Chloe shrieks. “I thought you couldn’t stand her?!”

“I can’t!” Aubrey says immediately, refusing to let that statement stand without correcting it. 

“So what, you finally realised the best way to deal with her running her mouth is to let her use it on you?” Chloe asks and Jessica chokes on a laugh so Aubrey narrows her eyes at the woman, who holds up her hands in innocence as she walks away with a smile. 

“It’s not like that. I’m not sleeping with her,” Aubrey says. 

“There’s a TMZ article that seems to disagree with you,” Chloe says, but her voice is a lot calmer than before and Aubrey sighs. 

“That’s all Gail,” Aubrey says, looks up and around the space before dropping her voice to a whisper, “I’m going to have to pretend to date Stacie.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Chloe says earnestly. 

“Yeah, well…” Aubrey says, shrugs even though Chloe can’t see her. “You should look at Stacie’s Instagram if you want the latest gossip.” 

She’s barely finished her sentence before Chloe hangs up on her. Aubrey rolls her eyes but looks at her phone expectantly, waits for less than a minute before Chloe’s calling her again. 

“You know that you don’t have to hang up on me every time you need to do something on your phone, right?” 

“That was hot, you two are hot. I know you hate her but wow…” Chloe says, trailing off and Aubrey can practically hear the cogs working in her brain. “You know what they say about hate sex.” 

“Chloe…” Aubrey says with a deep sigh. 

“Yeah, I know,” Chloe answers softly. “Are you going to be okay with this?” 

“It’s just more acting, right?” Aubrey says with a chuckle but it falls flat and she can practically hear Chloe grow concerned over the phone. 

“Aubrey…” 

“I’ll be fine. If I could get through the Sophia thing I can get through this.” 

“You didn’t get through that well at all.” 

“Did I ever thank you for that?” Aubrey asks, shuffling her feet as she looks down. 

“You don’t have to.” 

“Still…” 

“If you need me to come kick Stacie Conrad’s ass, I’ll do it. That’s what big sisters are for.” 

“Just because you’re older doesn’t make you the big sister. You’re so much smaller than me,” Aubrey says before she can stop herself, pressing her lips together as she holds in a laugh. 

“I’m trying to cheer you up and you make jokes about my height?” Chloe protests but she doesn’t sound upset. 

“Sorry,” Aubrey says quickly. “I’m grateful but if anybody is going to kick Stacie Conrad’s ass, it’s gonna be me.” 

“Good.” 

“Or Jessica. Because she seems to dislike Stacie more than I do.” 

“That’s weird. I didn’t think she disliked anybody,” Chloe says and Aubrey shrugs, forgetting that Chloe can’t see her. Chloe’s voice drops then, her whispered tone dripping with worry, “Just… be careful, okay?” 

“Yes,” Aubrey says, eyes unwittingly filling with tears. “I love you, Chlo.” 

“I love you too, Bree.” 

 

* * *

 

“So Aubrey, Stacie, you know I have to ask…” the interviewer starts and Aubrey leans back in her chair with a coy smile. “There’s been a TMZ article and people are dying to know. What’s going on between you two?” 

Stacie grins, looks sideways to meet Aubrey’s eyes and Aubrey looks away, tries to suppress a soft smile. Stacie watches her closely, a little bit in awe of how authentic Aubrey looks. 

“We’re…” Aubrey starts, trails off as she looks at Stacie and holds her breath. 

“Figuring it out,” Stacie completes with a small smile, turns to look back at the interviewer. 

“But you are in a relationship together?” the woman asks. 

“Yes,” Stacie says and she can see Aubrey nod out of the corner of her eye. 

“So why all the secrecy?” 

“We wanted to keep it private,” Stacie says and Aubrey chuckles. 

“We knew it would get out eventually, it is Hollywood, after all—” Aubrey pauses and they all share a laugh, “—but we didn’t want it to overshadow the film.” 

“A lot of people are calling the TMZ article fake because of rumours that you two couldn’t stand each other on set. What do you have to say to that?” 

Aubrey and Stacie exchange a look again. 

“We’re both very stubborn,” Stacie says, then leans in closer to the interviewer. “Aubrey especially.” 

“I am not!” Aubrey protests immediately, then pouts softly when she realises that her objection has proved Stacie’s point. “We tried to hide from our feelings but that’s not easy to do when you have to pretend to be in love for the camera for a movie.” 

“The movie! That’s what we’re supposed to be talking about!” Stacie interrupts with a short giggle. 

One of the producers off-camera gives the interviewer their thirty-second warning, but the woman doesn’t seem to register it, excited with all the new information she’s been given and she doesn’t look the least bit upset that her time is drawing to a close. 

“Please go watch Tipping the Scales,” Aubrey says, gently rests her hand on Stacie’s arm. 

“It’s a good movie! It opens December 1st,” Stacie adds with a laugh and then the interviewer bids them goodbye.  

 

* * *

 

“Wake up sleepyhead!” Ashley says, yanks open the curtains to let the sun in.

“Fuck, Ashley, seriously?!”

“Get up!” 

“What if I was naked?” 

“You weren’t.” 

“But what if.” 

“I’ve seen you naked so many times, Stacie. If you were killed in a freak accident that somehow left your face unidentifiable, I could identify your body by all your spots and scars.” 

“I always love it when you wake me up,” Stacie says dryly and Ashley grins. 

“I need you to take off your shirt, actually.” 

“What?” 

“It’s time for hashtag-Stacie-sleeps,” Ashley says, and her smile is way too mischievous for Stacie to not address it. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” 

“Jessica and I talked about it last night. It’s our newest Staubrey idea.” 

“I hate that fucking name.” 

“I love it. It was Jessica’s idea.” 

“You’re getting a little chummy with Jessica,” Stacie says teasingly, wagging her eyebrows. 

“She’s cool.” Ashley shrugs. “But seriously, take off your shirt and lay down on your front.” 

“Are you going to give me a massage?” Stacie says with a laugh, but she does follow the instructions. 

“You can pay professionals to do that for you,” Ashley says, and Stacie looks over her shoulder with a frown when Ashley clambers onto the bed and stands over her feet. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Taking a picture. Pretend to be asleep,” Ashley instructs, holds up her phone to take the picture as Stacie rolls over again. “Awesome, thank you.” 

“What is it for again?” Stacie asks once Ashley hops off the bed. 

“I told you. Hashtag Stacie sleeps,” Ashley says, already moving away from the bed, furiously typing on her phone. Stacie opens her mouth to ask what that means but Ashley cuts her off before she has a chance. “You should get dressed, they’re expecting you in fifteen minutes.” 

Before Stacie can say anything else, Ashley is gone. 

 

* * *

 

“Hey, can I talk to you about something?” 

“Of course,” Aubrey says, puts down her phone to look at Jessica. 

She leans against the counter full of makeup, looks around the space to make sure there’s nobody nearby who can overhear their conversation. 

“So Ashley and I were talking, and—” Aubrey arches an eyebrow knowingly. “Shut up,” Jessica says with a smile, cheeks reddening. “We were talking about maybe doing like a hot-for-each-other thing for you and Stacie.” 

“How so?” 

“Like stuff that would imply you’re in lust with each other.” 

“That’s the worst sentence I’ve heard all week,” Aubrey says with an eye roll but her words aren’t biting so Jessica just laughs. 

“And I know how you feel about having gossip float around about your sex life, so I thought I’d check in with you before we go ahead with it.” 

“I’m glad you’re asking first.” 

Jessica shrugs. “Yeah well, giving me free reign to sell this doesn’t mean I’m not going to worry about you.” 

Aubrey smiles at Jessica, appreciation clear. 

“Do you have an example?” Aubrey asks and Jessica nods, presents her phone to Aubrey. 

Her eyes go wide at the picture of Stacie doing a split against the hotel room wall, can’t help but let her eyes trail over the brunette’s body. 

“And this is one of Stacie’s,” Jessica says, flicks to the next picture, one of Aubrey on the beach in a blue bikini. 

Aubrey hesitates, and Jessica catches it, takes back her phone. 

“People are loving the Stacie sleeps thing on Instagram and this is a step up from that, but you don’t have to say yes. I know how much you hate this.” 

“Thank you for looking out for me, Jess,” Aubrey says, shoots the brunette a soft smile. 

“It’s my job,” Jessica says with a wry smile. 

“No, it’s not,” Aubrey says immediately, if only to drive home her gratitude. “Go for it,” she says, gestures to the phone. “Just run each one by me first.” 

“Are you sure?” Jessica asks, frowning in concern at how dejected Aubrey sounds.

Aubrey nods, smiles humourlessly as she shrugs. “It’s not real anyway.” 

“The chatter will be,” Jessica argues. 

“It’s okay, I promise,” Aubrey says reassuringly but Jessica still looks wary so Aubrey puts her hand on the woman’s arm and nods reassuringly. 

“O-kay,” Jessica says, staring at Aubrey closely as she opens her text messages to tell Ashley they’re good to go. 

 

* * *

 

“He’s going to ask me about her,” Stacie says with a soft whine and Ashley rolls her eyes. 

“You used to love her,” Ashley reminds Stacie, not looking up from her phone. 

“I did not,” Stacie counters, almost insulted by the words. 

“I distinctly remember Aubrey being number one on your Top Five Actresses I’d Fuck list,” Ashley says, grinning down at her phone and missing Stacie’s glare.

“That’s only because people told me she’s great in bed after the whole Sophia thing,” Stacie says and it’s what finally makes Ashley look up sharply. 

“That’s really fucking insensitive,” Ashley says with a deep frown that takes Stacie by surprise. 

“I didn’t know you were team Aubrey all of a sudden,” she throws back, thrown off by Ashley’s reaction to her words. 

“I’m not, but what happened to her was horrible so you shouldn’t say stuff like that,” Ashley says strongly and Stacie leans back in her chair, holds her hands up in a gesture of surrender. 

“Okay, I’m sorry,” she says and Ashley goes back to her phone. 

“Just talk about how great she is at acting,” Ashley says, and her voice doesn’t carry bite anymore but it’s not as jovial as it had been before. “Tell the story of when they shot the garden scene.” 

“I wasn’t there for that,” Stacie says and Ashley looks up from her phone with a small frown. 

“Yes, you were, because I was there and I don’t go to set unless you’re there,” she says pointedly, puts down her phone with an admonishing look when Stacie still looks clueless. “You don’t remember her filming the garden scene?” 

“No, remind me.” 

“She did one take of that scene and everybody in the crew was just completely blown away by how good she was. Like, I had goosebumps. It was the first take, and when Sebastian yelled cut, everybody was just totally shocked, Jess was crying, and Aubrey just shook her head, rolled her shoulders, and asked what we were having for lunch. Seb didn’t even ask for a second take because the first one was perfect. She’s going to get an Oscar for that scene and they only filmed one take. She’s _that_ good,” Ashley says. “Watching her work is just so…”  

Stacie stares at Ashley in surprise as the woman stares off into the distance with an impressed smile. 

“You sound like you’re a huge fan,” Stacie teases and it snaps Ashley out of her daze. 

“I am. She’s the greatest actress of our generation.” 

“What about Meryl Streep?” Stacie points out, uncomfortable with how reverently Ashley speaks of Aubrey. 

“She’s not of our generation, fool.” 

“Jessica Chastain?” 

“She’s 41. Also not our generation. Why do you refuse to acknowledge that Aubrey Posen is a great actress?” 

“I know she’s a great actress, I just find it hard to reconcile this great actress with the ice bitch I’ve been dealing with for nine months.” 

“She can be both things,” Ashley says with a shrug. “And I’m pretty sure she’s only a bitch to you, so…” 

“Hm.” 

 

* * *

 

There’s a soft knock on her hotel room door and Aubrey frowns, lifts the remote to pause her show. She glances at the clock as she scrambles off the bed, sighs wearily when she looks through the peephole and sees Stacie. 

She only opens the door a crack, raises an expectant eyebrow. 

“Hello, how are you, I’m good thanks for asking,” Stacie says sarcastically and Aubrey’s scowl deepens. “Such a sunny disposition.” 

“What do you want?” 

“Gail just sent me like fourteen texts saying it’s been too long since we posted a photo of us together,” Stacie explains, holds up her phone. 

Aubrey sighs and doesn’t even look at Stacie’s phone because she knows she’s right so she steps aside to let Stacie in. 

“How do you want to do this?” Aubrey asks, closing the door behind Stacie but the woman’s distracted by her tv. 

“You watch Westworld?” Stacie asks in surprise. “I wouldn’t have pegged it as your genre.” 

“How do you know what my genre is?” Aubrey says and Stacie has to admit that she’s right. “I watch it to support Evan.” 

“Evan Rachel Wood?” 

“What?” Aubrey asks, crosses her arms. 

“You’re friends with Evan Rachel Wood?” Stacie asks, eyes going wide as she turns back to Aubrey. 

“Yes, why?” 

“How?” 

“What do you mean how? I have friends, Stacie,” Aubrey says, not following and Stacie rolls her eyes. 

“How did you meet?” 

“She guest starred on the last season of East Wing and we’ve been friends ever since.”  

“But she’s so cool…” Stacie mutters under her breath and Aubrey finally understands, uncrosses her arms as she smiles smugly at Stacie.  

“Aww, do you want to be her friend?” Aubrey taunts and Stacie shakes her head, narrows her eyes at Aubrey but doesn’t take what is clearly bait. 

She holds up her phone, trying to remind Aubrey of why she’s there in the first place. “Just a cute video of us watching Westworld together?” 

Aubrey sighs dejectedly, almost disappointed that Stacie’s not engaging as she nods and gets back on the bed, scooting to the side to let Stacie join her, and Stacie shifts close, wraps her arm around Aubrey and she cuddles closely. 

Aubrey lifts the remote and presses play and Stacie opens her Instagram, navigates to the camera and she waits until Aubrey is looking at the tv, holds her phone at an angle and hits record. 

“Babe,” Stacie says with a smile, and Aubrey turns and smiles for the camera, holds the smile for a second before looking surprised. 

“It’s a video?” Aubrey asks petulantly and Stacie laughs loudly. 

“Yeah.” 

“I hate you,” Aubrey says with a suppressed smile but she leans in and kisses Stacie deeply, leaning into it. 

She breaks away as soon as Stacie drops her arm, sits back against the pillows as she rewinds her tv show and pauses it. 

“Is it good?” Aubrey asks, turning to Stacie who’s looking at her phone. 

“Yup, perfect,” Stacie confirms, types a caption and posts it before looking up. “Okay, hit play.” 

“No, get out,” Aubrey says indignantly, crosses her arms. 

“But this is a good episode,” Stacie says, frowning at Aubrey. “I want to see it.” 

“Too bad. I’m tired and I don’t have the energy to fight with you.” 

Stacie theatrically rolls her eyes. “We’re fighting right now.” 

“Exactly.” 

“Fine. Truce for one night?” Stacie says and Aubrey narrows her eyes at the brunette. 

“Only if you agree to stay completely quiet,” Aubrey offers and Stacie nods once, mimics zipping her lips closed and locking it, throwing away the key. 

It’s amazing how easy it is for them to lounge next to each other in silence and watch the show together in peace, and it’s the longest they’ve ever gone without bickering. 

Aubrey falls asleep two episodes later, her head on Stacie’s shoulder and breathing deeply, and when Stacie looks down at her and brushes some hair away from Aubrey’s face, she thinks that maybe Aubrey isn’t all that bad. 

Ashley’s words ring loudly in Stacie’s head, about how Aubrey isn’t actually the way she is with Stacie, how she’s a completely different person around everybody else, and she’s not sure what to do with that information anymore. 

 

* * *

 

Aubrey wakes up the next morning feeling well-rested, eyelashes fluttering as she blinks open her eyes and then her memory kicks in and her eyes fly open as she looks around the empty room. She sits up and only then notices the heavy blanket draped over her as it falls away from her shoulder but she feels cold so she reaches for it, holds it up as she tries to remember when she fell asleep. 

Stacie must have left after she fell asleep but she took the time to throw a blanket over Aubrey and she can’t help but smile at that, fingers playing with the edge of the soft blanket. 

She doesn’t have a lot of time to think about why she suddenly feels something that isn’t specifically dislike towards Stacie because there’s a knock on her door and the soft beep of a keycard unlocking it before Jessica steps into the room. 

“Morning,” she says with a cheery smile, holds up a coffee for Aubrey. 

“Hey,” Aubrey says, eagerly accepting the mug as she adjusts the blanket over her legs. “Good morning.” 

“I saw that you spent the night with Stacie,” Jessica teases as she draws the curtains. “Who came out of that fight victorious?” 

Aubrey glances down at the blanket with a soft frown. 

“No fight, we just watched Westworld together.” 

Jessica freezes, frowns at Aubrey in confusion, “I don’t understand.” 

“What?” 

“You didn’t have a fight?” Jessica confirms and when Aubrey nods, Jessica’s frown deepens. “How is that possible?” 

Aubrey wants to say that maybe they somehow have the ability not to always fight but that idea is a little too fresh in her mind so she goes with, “I told her she could stay if she was quiet.” 

“Ohh, you didn’t talk,” Jessica says with a wave of the hand. “That explains everything.” 

“Jess?” Aubrey says softly, fiddling with the edge of the blanket and Jessica stops where she’s rifling through Aubrey’s makeup bag. “Why do you hate Stacie?” 

“I don’t hate Stacie,” Jessica says immediately, the response automatic but when Aubrey stays quiet, Jessica turns to her and finds the blonde staring at her with a disbelieving look. 

“You’ve disliked her for as long as I have,” Aubrey says, to preempt any answer from Jessica that implies that she hates Stacie by proxy. 

“She’s self-centered, narcissistic and inconsiderate,” Jessica says then but her words don’t carry any bite. “And I don’t like how she treats you.” 

Aubrey smiles briefly, heart warming at the sentiment behind Jessica’s protectiveness. 

“Why do you ask?” Jessica says then, drops her phone onto the dresser before moving closer and perching on the side of the bed. 

“What if I’m the bad guy in this situation?” Aubrey whispers but she sees confusion flit across Jessica’s face so she elaborates. “She’s a bitch to me but I’m a bitch to her too. And she’s always been nice to you, so…” 

“I have one very specific reason for not liking Stacie and you know what it is,” Jessica says and she doesn’t mean to sound so prickly but Aubrey doesn’t take it as an affront, knows exactly what Jessica’s talking about and why she’s so on edge. 

“Emmys?”

“Emmys,” Jessica confirms. 

“Yeah,” Aubrey says with a wry smile but she looks deep in thought and Jessica lets it go for now, getting up from the bed and tugging Aubrey’s blanket with her, laughing when the woman whines at the cold. 

“And you’re a bitch to plenty of other people who don’t treat you badly, so…” Jessica teases, flitting away when Aubrey’s mouth drops open in surprised indignation and tosses a pillow at Jessica, missing her by a wide margin. In an effort to move away from her jibe at Aubrey, she turns the conversation around and says, “Anyway, your video with Stacie was cute. I’m glad you two can do that organically without help.” 

Aubrey starts getting out of bed, coy smile on her face as she says, “Are you sad that when Stacie and I have to stop pretending to date, you won’t see Ashley anymore?” 

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Jessica starts, pointedly not looking at Aubrey as she goes through the woman’s closet and missing Aubrey turning to her with a twinkle in her eyes. “But Ashley already asked me out.” 

Aubrey tries to hide her knowing smile with her coffee and they both pretend not to notice Jessica’s fierce blush. 

 

* * *

 

“Hi everybody,” Ellen starts, waits for the audience to settle down. “We are back with Stacie Conrad and today we are both in the hot seat to answer my burning questions.”  

“Ooh,” Stacie teases and Ellen laughs.  

“Okay, who was your first celebrity crush?”  

Stacie quickly taps the button. “John Stamos.”  

Ellen stares at her in wide-eyed disbelief and amusement.  

“What?” Stacie defends, hits the button again. “Uncle Jesse had it goin’ on!”  

“Okay, mine was…”  

“Jane Fonda!” Stacie interjects with a giggle, hits the button again.  

“For yourself or for me?” Ellen teases.  

“For me,” Stacie says, hits the button. “And for you.”  

“No, it was actually Bjorn Borg.”  

“The tennis player?” Stacie asks, scrunches up her face as she hits the button again.  

“You don’t have to hit the button every time you say something!” Ellen interjects, tries to stop Stacie from tapping the big red button again but Stacie dodges her and hits the button anyway.  

“Why not? It’s fun!”  

“Let’s move on!” Ellen says, trying to prevent the game from going too far off the rails and Stacie laughs. “Which co-star was the most fun to kiss?”  

“Aubrey Posen!” Stacie says immediately, hitting the button. Ellen shoots her a look of disbelief so Stacie shrugs. “She’s my girlfriend, I can’t say anybody else, can I?”  

Ellen bursts out laughing then, leans in. “If Aubrey Posen wasn’t your girlfriend, who would it be?”  

Stacie hits the button again. “Aubrey Posen,” she says cheekily and the audience laughs loudly and Ellen shrieks with laughter.  

“What is your favourite thing to do in bed?” Ellen asks, wiping away tears.  

“Aubrey Posen!” Stacie yells loudly, enthusiastically hitting the red button and the audience goes wild and Ellen loses it, holds her cue cards up to her face as she tries to find a decent answer.  

“That’s not what I—!”  

“Fine!” Stacie says, hits the button again. “Sleep!”  

Somebody in the audience wolf whistles and Stacie’s grin widens as she winks at the camera.  

“What would be the tagline for the Conrad perfume?”  

“So good it’s criminal,” Stacie says, hitting the button.  

“What is your favourite curse word?”  

Stacie hits the button before hesitating. “Oh, I can’t say that one.”  

“Really?” Ellen asks.  

“No, I can’t say that on television,” Stacie says, looks guiltily between the camera and Ellen.  

“You can say whatever you want, we’ll bleep it out.”  

“Will you really?” Stacie asks, hits the button again.  

“Yes. Mine’s fuck,” Ellen says and Stacie laughs loudly at that.  

“Okay,” Stacie says, hitting the red button. “Motherfucker.”  

Ellen pauses to laugh and Stacie smiles at the camera, shrugs.  

“Sorry grandma!” she says quickly and that seems to make Ellen laugh even harder, the audience roaring with laughter.  

“You know what, I think we should end this here,” Ellen chokes out and Stacie laughs, a little ashamed.  

 

* * *

 

“Please put your hands together for Aubrey Posen!” 

She waits for the applause and then a junior producer tells her to go and she can’t help but smile when she sees Jimmy beaming at her. 

“Hi!” she says happily, smiles at the crowd as she hugs the man. 

“Have a seat, have a seat! You look great!” 

“Thank you! So do you! How are you?” Aubrey asks while the clapping dies down and Jimmy chuckles. 

“I’m supposed to ask that, Aubrey,” he complains jovially and she can’t help but laugh. 

“I’m sorry!” 

Jimmy turns to the audience, still smiling as he says, “She has been coming to this show since we started it, and she does this every time.” 

“It’s because I feel like we’re pals,” Aubrey says with an easy smile. “This is like my second living room, Jimmy. Did you change the chairs?” 

Jimmy laughs loudly. “I have, actually!” 

“See,” Aubrey says, turns to the audience as they laugh. “Living room.” 

“So, okay, so you’ve been nominated for a SAG award,” Jimmy starts, and the audience cheers loudly so he waits for them to quiet down, “Congratulations!” 

“Thank you,” Aubrey says, almost bashfully. 

“Now I checked, and I had an intern double check my numbers because I’m bad at math, but this is your 10th SAG award nomination,” Jimmy says and Aubrey realises he’s right, lights up. 

“Is it?” She starts counting on her fingers, smiling widely when the audience laughs at her expression. “You’re right!”

“So how does it feel to be nominated again? Ten times, that’s truly a remarkable thing,” Jimmy says. 

“Thanks, yeah, it’s… it’s great cause you never expect it to happen again.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Do you know what I mean? So every time it happens I’m like ‘oh! they remembered’,” Aubrey says, laughs a little awkwardly. “No, but it’s amazing.” 

“People are predicting that you’ll also be nominated for an Academy Award.” 

“Are they?” Aubrey asks. “I try not to listen to that too much, it freaks me out a little bit.” 

“Why is that?” 

“Well especially for Tipping the Scales, you know, you don’t go into it thinking ‘well this is the one that’s going to get me another Oscar’ and to be quite honest, I never would have expected the film to blow up as much as it has.” 

“It’s a spectacular film, though,” Jimmy tries to argue. 

“It is, but there are a lot of spectacular films out there.” 

“So, since we’re talking about your film, actually, can you tell us a little bit what it’s about?” 

“It’s a heartbreaking love story. It’s about these two women who are both very unhappy with their lives and they meet when all hope is lost and they, uhm, they have a genuine connection.” 

“That’s very vague,” Jimmy says, nodding serious, a smile threatening to break out over his face. 

“I’m sorry!” Aubrey says quickly, blushing as the audience laughs. “I don’t want to give too much away.” 

“So you’re the star of this film…” 

“Well, no, not technically, Stacie Conrad is also the star of the film. We share equal screentime,” Aubrey corrects and Jimmy grins then and she knows she’s been led into a trap. 

“So speaking of co-stars, I hear you’re _dating_ Stacie Conrad,” Jimmy says and the crowd goes “ooh!”. “I’d love to hear that story.”  

“That was so smooth, that was a nice segue, that was… good job, Jimmy,” Aubrey says, pointing at Jimmy with a small grin. 

“Thank you,” Jimmy says with a wide smile. “Now tell me about Stacie Conrad. Don’t hold back.” 

“She’s… incredible. She’s funny and warm and confident and smart, oh my god, she’s so smart. I love being in a relationship with her. She’s a very emboldening person to be with,” Aubrey says and she’s acting, she knows she is, but there’s a part of her that’s having less and less trouble describing Stacie and her supposed relationship with her the more interviews she does and the more she talks about Stacie.

“Sounds like you’re having a lot of fun,” Jimmy prods and saving Aubrey from going down that spiral of thought.

“I am. What can I say? She keeps me on my toes.” 

 

* * *

 

Stacie hasn’t seen Aubrey in days which also means they’ve gone days without fighting but during that time Ashley had posted a picture of Aubrey in cowboy boots and a cute summer dress with an adorably pithy caption. There isn’t anything inherently suggestive or sexual about the picture but Stacie’s body still betrays her when she wakes up that morning covered in sweat with a very vivid dream still lingering in her brain and it leaves her distracted all day because she can’t blink without seeing images of a frantic and passionate encounter with Aubrey burned into her eyelids.  

It also brings back the memory of Ashley’s very straightforward implication that the only person Aubrey fights with is Stacie. She can recognise that she may have been blinded by her dislike of the blonde and that she’d never noticed it, so she finally starts looking out for it and watches Aubrey closely all day, sometimes having to convince herself that she’s doing it out of curiosity and not to appease her traitorous body that tells her that she might actually enjoy watching Aubrey.  

“Babe?”  

Aubrey’s voice is soft and she’s staring at Stacie with a small smile on her face and it snaps Stacie out of her thoughts but then she really looks at Aubrey, sees how her eyes harden as her smile tightens when Stacie moves closer and wraps an arm around her and Ashley’s words echo in her brain.  

Stacie presses a quick kiss to Aubrey’s cheek as Aubrey leans into the embrace with a smile but now that she’s closer Stacie can see it waver, can feel how tense Aubrey’s body is under the hand she has on the blonde’s back.  

“What did the assistant want?” Aubrey asks, her voice low but still pleasant because of all the cameras near them.  

“Just that Cynthia Rose is almost here so we should wait to take a picture with her,” Stacie says, smiling when Aubrey turns into her body and looks up, their noses brushing against each other in a beautifully intimate moment that doesn’t go unnoticed as a few cameras flash in their direction.  

“Okay,” Aubrey says and her smile is sweet but her eyes are guarded.  

Stacie leans in and quickly pecks her lips before sliding her hand down Aubrey’s arm to take her hand and Aubrey lets Stacie guide her further down the red carpet as photographers call out their names for photos.  

They’ve just made it to the end of the carpet when there’s a large commotion and they both immediately knows that Cynthia Rose has arrived and, still cognisant of the cameras everywhere, Aubrey turns to Stacie with a wide smile and says, “Go, I’ll wait for you here.”  

Stacie makes her way to Cynthia Rose, manages to get through the entourage of people surrounding her and hovers just a few steps away while Cynthia Rose has her picture taken by the horde of photographers calling out her name.  

As soon as there’s a lull, Stacie psssts her and Cynthia Rose turns with a smile that widens when she sees the tall brunette. Stacie closes the distance and they hug tightly and camera flashes go off next to them.  

“You’re here!” Cynthia Rose says, pulling back and an assistant comes over to quickly fix her hair.  

“Sorry,” Stacie says with a quick grimace at the girl who glares at Stacie for messing up Cynthia Rose’s hair. “Of course I’m here, I wouldn’t miss this for the world!”  

“Where’s your girlfriend?” Cynthia Rose asks, eyes twinkling mischievously because they’ve had long phone calls with Stacie complaining about Aubrey and each time Cynthia Rose would tease her about once upon a time being hot for Aubrey Posen.  

“She’s…” Stacie starts, turning to look over her shoulder and the words dying on her lips when she sees Aubrey laughing with Lilly Onakuramara.  

“Oh, she knows Lilly?” Cynthia Rose says, following Stacie’s line of sight.  

“I don’t know, I guess?” Stacie says with a shrug, twisting so she can look at the two better.  

Lilly laughs and says something that has Aubrey smiling widely and leaning in to whisper something and then Lilly’s laughing again, hand reaching out to curl around Aubrey’s wrist as she laughs hard. Aubrey can’t help but laugh with her, stepping closer and Stacie’s surprised because she’s pretty sure she’s never seen Aubrey laugh like this, her whole expression open and her nose crinkly and Stacie immediately knows this isn’t an act and can’t help but be amazed by Aubrey being so light and open and with none other than Lilly Onakuramara, who is known in the industry for being stand-offish and private.  

“Is that jealousy I see,” Cynthia Rose jibes, nudging Stacie gently and it snaps her out of her staring as she forces out a laugh.  

“Of course not, I don’t get jealous,” Stacie says with a dismissive wave of the hand.  

“Sure you don’t,” Cynthia Rose whispers, rolls her eyes before calling out Lilly’s name and gesturing the two over so they can all have their picture taken together.  

When they’re making their way over, Stacie watches Aubrey closely, has a small smile on her face to at least pretend that she’s so smitten she can’t take her eyes off her girlfriend and she can see the exact moment Aubrey switches back ‘on’, sees something shift in her face and her shoulders square back and Stacie wonders how she never saw it before.  

She doesn’t have much time to dwell on it before Aubrey’s sliding a hand around her middle and cuddling close, leaning up to kiss Stacie quickly with a content smile that Stacie returns and then introductions are made as the photographers go wild.

 

* * *

 

“Hey,” Aubrey says sharply a week later when they’re on press tour in Canada and Stacie looks up from her phone with a bored look. “I need to talk to you.” 

Stacie sighs, gestures for Aubrey to speak but the blonde rolls her eyes. 

“In private.” 

“Fine,” Stacie says, lazily getting up from the couch and following Aubrey to her room. “What’s the problem now, Posen?” 

“Did you show Perez Hilton a picture of me my underwear?” she asks, almost pleadingly because she’s so tired of this and she doesn’t want to have to explain to Stacie why this feels like a major invasion of privacy. 

“It’s just a picture,” Stacie tries to say with a shrug, but Aubrey is slowly growing annoyed when she notices that Stacie absolutely does not see the issue at hand. 

“No, it’s not,” she argues and Stacie can’t help but roll her eyes. “And I fucking hate that guy.” 

“You’re overreacting.” 

“Don’t tell me how to feel,” Aubrey snaps. “I’m allowed to be upset about this.” 

“What do you have against Perez Hilton?” Stacie asks. 

“Everything. He’s spineless scum,” Aubrey says strongly and Stacie rolls her eyes again.

“That’s a lovely way to talk about people in the industry.” 

“‘People in the industry’?” Aubrey says, using air quotes as she stares at Stacie in disbelief. “Paparazzi and gossip blogs aren’t in the industry, they’re bottom of the barrel trash.” 

“Jeez, it’s nice to know your hate doesn’t extend to just me,” Stacie says with a mocking laugh. 

“I’ve had the paparazzi and the gossip blogs follow me around since I was ten years old, so I’m sorry if it seems like I’m a little fed up with them,” Aubrey says patronisingly.  

“You would think that in all those years you would have learned how to deal with them,” Stacie says, shakes her head. “Damn, I have.” 

“What, you think you’re hot shit because you carried a franchise?” Aubrey shoots back and that finally makes Stacie snap.

“Hey, I didn’t have a shred of privacy for five years,” Stacie says harshly, hating the implication that she doesn’t work hard. 

“Try eighteen fucking years, Stacie. Come talk to me when you’ve been working for that many years and you’re not sick and tired of your privacy constantly being invaded.” 

“You’re in the wrong fucking business if you like your privacy,” Stacie snaps. “And last I checked, a shot of you in a bra isn’t even the most people have seen of you.” 

“Just because your idea of a good time is popping molly while whoring around and fucking half the people in Hollywood and putting it all online for publicity, doesn’t mean that I like having my body as a public commodity. I’ve had a taste of it and I don’t fucking like it.” 

“Oh please,” Stacie says with a scoff, “That sextape was the most interesting thing to ever happen to your career.” 

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Aubrey throws back sharply, is a little proud of herself for not tearing up at Stacie’s words and in an effort to actively defend herself she adds, “Did the drugs kill some of your important brain cells or what?” 

Stacie feels a flash of anger at the words and any delusions she’d been harbouring about Aubrey maybe not being such a terrible person go flying out the window. 

“I know that people finally saw that you’re not just a bitch who can pretend to have emotions for awards and that you actually know what a fucking orgasm is,” Stacie says and Aubrey reels back at the vicious words. 

“Get out,” Aubrey whispers, voice wavering and she has to curl her fingers into fists to hide how much her hands are shaking and to prevent herself from crying. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Stacie says sarcastically when she sees Aubrey’s small fists, mistakes the look in Aubrey’s eyes for pure anger so she doubles down on her words, holds a hand against her chest mockingly. “Did that hurt your feelings?” 

“Stacie, get the fuck out of my suite!” 

“Gladly,” Stacie snarks, turns on her heel and walks out, the door slamming loudly behind her. 

 

* * *

 

Stacie wakes up well-rested, which is the first sign that something is wrong. She gets out of bed and pulls open the curtains, jumps back with a yelp when she’s assaulted by the full sun before reaching out and yanking the curtains closed again. 

Walking back towards the bed, she reaches for her phone and her eyes go wide when she sees that it’s well past her wake up time and she scrambles to get dressed. 

“Ashley, why didn’t you wake me up?” she shouts into her phone once the woman picks up the phone, attempts to slip into a pair of jeans with one hand and dropping onto the bed. 

“Relax, today’s events have been moved to tomorrow and the whole schedule shifts a day,” Ashley explains quickly and Stacie pauses. 

“What? Why?” 

“I don’t know, Aubrey’s reps called the producers about it. You should ask her.”

“Thanks Ash,” Stacie says before hanging up. 

She finishes getting dressed, grabs her things and leaves her suite, fully intending to go hunt down Aubrey to ask her why she needed to make their press tour a day longer. She loses some steam when she can’t find Aubrey anywhere, but she’s determined, and when she catches a flash of blonde, she follows it to the elevators. It’s Jessica but she’ll just have to do. 

Jessica sees her and her scowl deepens as she tries to avoid Stacie, but just as the elevators doors are closing, Stacie sticks her hand in and forces the doors open again. 

Jessica is glaring at her which is not unusual per se, but the blonde is usually a little bit more tactful about hiding her clear dislike of Stacie. 

“Why was the schedule cleared today?” 

“Aubrey needs a day,” Jessica says, forces a polite smile on her face. 

“What the fuck? She can’t just take a day off,” Stacie points out and Jessica rolls her eyes in response. 

“It’s a medical thing,” Jessica replied. 

“What does that even mean?” 

“It means it’s none of your business,” Jessica shoots back, even though she’s clearly sitting on more information than she’s willing to divulge. 

“It does if she’s doing it out of spite and causing me to lose a day off,” Stacie gives and Jessica rolls her eyes again, crosses her arms as she stares at Stacie in challenge. “I’ll hold this elevator until you tell me.” 

“Guess I’ll take the stairs, then,” Jessica says and tries to push past Stacie, grumbling when the tall brunette counters her every move. “Let’s just say she has a medical hangover,” Jessica finally snaps. 

“She can’t do her job because she had a little too much to drink last night?” Stacie exclaims, fury reignited. 

“ _Medical_  hangover,” Jessica says sharply. 

“What’s the fucking difference?” 

“Alcohol, benzodiazepine,” Jessica says, both of her hands shifting as she mimics a scale and she hates that she even has to make that distinction.

“She’s a drug addict?” Stacie exclaims, her mouth getting away from her. 

“Jesus Christ,” Jessica says, briefly reaches up to pinch the bridge of her nose to try and contain her anger. “She has anxiety attacks, you moron!” 

“What?” Stacie asks more out of habit, reeling backwards at Jessica’s sharp tone. 

“She had one last night after _you_ talked to her,” Jessica says strongly, and she’s shaking, looks like it’s costing her a lot of energy to keep her anger contained. “So stop being such an asshole and appreciate your day off while she takes a day to sleep off the meds!”  

Stacie’s so taken aback by Jessica’s sharp words as a bad feeling starts settling in her gut that when Jessica tries to push past her again, she succeeds, and she’s a few steps away before Stacie hears her turn back. 

“And one more thing,” Jessica says so Stacie turns and the blonde steps right up to her, stares straight at Stacie. “Don’t you _ever_  call her a drug addict again, Stacie Conrad. You of all people should know better about accusing somebody of something like that.”  

“I’m sorry,” Stacie says immediately but Jessica’s angry expression doesn’t budge one bit. 

“I don’t care,” she says and then Stacie feels a flash of annoyance. 

“What do you want me to say?” she shoots back. 

“Not whatever you said to her yesterday. I want you to be a little bit more conscious and considerate about the stuff you say to her because being around you isn’t a cakewalk for her and this whole pretending to date nonsense hasn’t helped.” 

“It’s not my fault she doesn’t like me,” Stacie complains, affronted and insulted by the insinuation that Aubrey and Stacie not getting along is somehow her fault. 

“Isn’t it?” Jessica asks, arches an eyebrow and crosses her arms. 

“She’s hated me since she met me.” 

“Has she?” 

“She didn’t even give me a chance at the table read.” 

“You think you met at the table read?” Jessica asks and there’s something in that spiteful tone that immediately makes doubt settle in Stacie’s gut. 

“We _did_ meet at the table read,” she presses, but she doesn’t sound so sure anymore.  

“No, you didn’t.” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” 

Jessica shifts, dropping her crossed arms as she considers how to proceed, what to say. “You didn’t meet at the table read, you met before that,” Jessica finally says and Stacie feels that bad feeling in her gut grow.

“Were you there?” Stacie asks and Jessica nods. “Remind me?” Stacie asks softly and Jessica tries not to look too pleased by the request, doesn’t like how much she’s going to enjoy seeing Stacie feel bad.

“You met at the Emmy’s official after party.” 

“I don’t remember much of that after party,” Stacie comments with a small frown and Jessica shoots her a look as if to say “exactly”. 

“You’d just done Red Widow which included three separate sex scenes and a startling amount of nudity—” 

“I do remember that,” Stacie says with a small grin but Jessica’s expression just hardens. 

“Stop interrupting. You’d just done Red Widow and you must have heard about Aubrey and Sophia because you saw Aubrey and before even saying your name or introducing yourself in any way, you said ‘congrats on winning the court case. I wish we could all make a sextape and then collect damages in court over it’.” 

“What?” Stacie breathes, horrified. 

“So you see why she might not have been your biggest fan when you two met and you continued being a self-centered bitch.” 

“Shit,” Stacie says softly, feeling so much guilt and regret that she’s starting to get a stomach ache. “Where is she?” 

“No,” Jessica says strongly and Stacie looks up at her in surprise. “I don’t want you anywhere near her today. You’re gonna leave her alone. As a matter of fact, I want you to leave her alone forever.” 

“Jess, that’s unreasonable. We have to do press together,” Stacie says, sounding dejected. 

“So do your press, do the media tour, take the pictures you need and then leave her the fuck alone. She deserves some peace.” 

“Okay,” Stacie says softly, admits that it’s the least she can do after almost a year of taunting Aubrey into fights while thinking that she had been completely free of blame. 

Jessica nods, forces a small, polite smile onto her face before turning to leave again. 

“Jess?” Stacie calls after her, “You clearly hate how I’ve been behaving,” she starts, tone soft to show that she’s not trying to pick a fight or be confrontational, “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”  

“I didn’t think the movie was going to blow up like it did so I thought she’d never have to see you again after the first round of press, and…” Jessica says bluntly and she pauses when she sees Stacie flinch. 

“And?” Stacie presses, can see how conflicted Jessica looks so she’s about to take back her question when Jessica sighs. 

“I already told you too much,” Jessica confesses. 

“It’s okay,” Stacie says, taking a step back and shaking her head, knows how much Jessica cares about Aubrey and clearly this is something incredibly private. 

Something in Jessica’s eyes shifts then, and she holds up a hand to stop Stacie from walking away. 

“She hasn’t had one this bad since court,” Jessica says softly but pointedly. 

Stacie frowns at the words, at the implication behind the words. “Does she have them a lot?” 

“You should ask her that.” 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> peep that chapter count, good lads ;)
> 
> comments are love and also make me write faster!


	2. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this became a lot longer than I'd originally planned. Oh well.  
> Enjoy!

It’s official! Stacie Conrad and Aubrey Posen are dating.

**Stacie Conrad** ( _Alana Jackson & the Titans, Red Widow_) has finally confirmed through an Instagram post that she is officially in a relationship with her **[Tipping the Scales](http://kate-harper.tumblr.com/post/176918610776/)** co-star **Aubrey Posen** ( _The East Wing, Atlanta_ ). 

The acting couple, who met on the set of Tipping the Scales, had reportedly started seeing each other in late-September. A few days after a TMZ article surfaced that Conrad and Posen were secretly dating, the pair were spotted hand-in-hand leaving a Calvin Harris concert. 

We love a cute on-set romance story, especially between two girls, so we caught up with Conrad at the _‘_ **Sip into Summer’ Rose Party at Chateau Marmont** , who was all smiles when talking about her new girlfriend. “She’s amazing, I’m so lucky to be with her,” Conrad gushed. 

When asked about several rumors that the two leading ladies couldn’t stand each other on set, Conrad confessed, “I’ll admit, there were some problems at first, and I think it’s because we’re so similar and being confronted with that sort of forced me to be introspective about myself. And we spent so much time together on set that even though we were shouting at each other during the long hours, after we wrapped I really started missing her. We met up casually and without all the pressure of work, everything just clicked.” 

This isn’t the first female romance for either Conrad or Posen: Conrad is well-known in Hollywood for having several public flings, most notably a brief relationship with Cara Delevingne that ended with both of them in rehab, while Posen hasn’t been spotted with anybody new since her messy breakup with photographer Sophia McCartney that ended in a vicious court battle. 

The two lovebirds are expected to embark on a three-month press tour over the holiday season to promote Tipping the Scales (opens December 1 in the US, December 25 worldwide) so get ready to see a lot more of these two in the near future. 

 

__**-**_ **The Hollywood Reporter** , December 2017_

 

* * *

 

“What are you doing up here?”

Aubrey sighs when she hears the voice, too tired for a fight.

“I could ask you the same,” Aubrey ends up saying, lifts the bottle to her mouth and takes a large swig of it. 

“Six days off, I would have thought you’d be with family,” Stacie presses but there isn’t any malice in her voice. 

“I don’t have anywhere to go,” Aubrey admits, closes her eyes when she realises what she’s said and who she’s said it to. 

“That sucks.”

“I don’t want your pity,” Aubrey says sharply, sips from her bottle again. 

“I don’t have anywhere to go either,” Stacie admits and Aubrey chuckles darkly. 

“Boo hoo,” Aubrey says condescendingly. 

“Are you drunk?” Stacie asks, takes a few steps closer to Aubrey, squints to try and make out the bottle in the darkness of the night.

“I wish.”

“What are you drinking?”

“I’m not going to share it with you,” Aubrey admits. 

“Not what I asked.”

“Bourbon.”

“Why are you drinking?”

“Why do you ask? So you can throw it in my face later? Pass,” Aubrey admits and Stacie rolls her eyes even though Aubrey can’t see her.

“I’m sorry for what I said last week,” Stacie says. 

“You’re just saying that because you heard I had an anxiety attack,” Aubrey says immediately, pauses with a dark chuckle. “Jessica told me she yelled at you.” 

“Yeah, but also because I was an idiot. We got off on the wrong foot and as it turns out, it’s all my fault.” Aubrey doesn’t say anything, so Stacie continues, “I did some googling—” 

“Oh, god.” 

“—and it turns out I was completely wrong about you. I let someone tell me about you instead of doing my own research and that’s on me.”  

“I’m glad you have clarity now,” Aubrey interrupts bitterly and Stacie groans. 

“Jesus, you don’t make it easy, do you? I’m trying to extend an olive branch here,” Stacie says, drops down to sit on the ground next to Aubrey, bumps the blonde’s shoulder with her own. “I’m sorry.” 

“Did you know that I haven’t had sex in four years?” Aubrey says out of the blue. 

“That’s…” Stacie opens her mouth a few times to add to her sentence but can’t find anything to say that isn’t going to spark a fight so she stays quiet. 

“What, no joke about how it’s noticeable that I haven’t gotten laid in that long?” 

“It’s too easy a jab, there’s no fun in it,” Stacie answer teasingly, bumps Aubrey’s shoulder again and the woman chuckles humourlessly. “Why has it been that long?” 

“Seriously?” Aubrey asks. 

“What, because of the video?” 

“Video is putting it mildly. It was a fucking feature-length film,” Aubrey says and Stacie can hear liquid slosh in the bottle as Aubrey takes another swig of the bottle. 

“That has to be an exaggeration, Aubrey.” 

“Have you seen it?” 

“No,” Stacie admits. 

“Then you’re one of very few people I know who hasn’t.” 

“It can’t have been that bad. I’ve had nudes leaked, it’s—” 

“My parents didn’t know,” Aubrey interrupts. Her voice has dropped in volume again and Stacie hates that she can’t see the woman clearly because she’s not following. 

“What?” Stacie asks in confusion.

“Before it came out, a total of three people knew I was gay. Jessica, Chloe, and…” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Your parents didn’t know _anything_?” 

“They found out when somebody sent them an hourlong video of me having sex with a girl,” Aubrey answers softly, her voice whispered to hide the fact that she’s trying to bite back tears, grateful for the dark. 

“Jesus,” Stacie breathes. She shrugs lightly, tries to deflect by saying, “I didn’t know it was an hour.” 

Aubrey chuckles but there’s no humour in the sound. “You really haven’t seen it?” 

“No, why would I? It’s private.” 

Aubrey is quiet for a long time but Stacie can hear her breathing slowly so she waits her out. 

“That’s…” Aubrey starts and stops, not sure how to phrase her words to sound sincere. “You’re a good person, Stacie,” she finally whispers. 

“I’m really not,” Stacie whispers back immediately, guilt colouring her tone heavily. “I thought you’d planned it. I thought you were in on it.” 

“I wasn’t,” Aubrey answers and Stacie is a little shocked by the fact that Aubrey doesn’t seem surprised that she’d believed that and it makes Stacie wonder how many other people have been terrible to Aubrey for thinking she’d been in on the scandal. 

As if she hadn’t been feeling guilty enough for the past few days, that realisation comes as a terrible addition and Stacie’s reminded of how much she’d deserved all of Aubrey’s vitriol. 

“I’m sorry, Aubrey.” 

Stacie can feel Aubrey shrug. 

“It’s okay.” 

“Did you ever talk to someone about it?” Stacie asks. 

“Who am I supposed to talk to about it?” Aubrey counters and Stacie has to concede that point. “What am I even supposed to say?” 

“You can talk to me if you want,” Stacie offers, closes her eyes when she realises how idiotic that is. They’ve been at each other’s throat for almost a year and now she’s offering to be Aubrey’s shoulder to cry on?

Aubrey seems as surprised as Stacie at her offer, her body stilling and her hand holding the bottle falling limply onto her lap. A part of her wants to stay angry and has enjoyed bitching at Stacie for the past year, but another side of her is just so tired of keeping it all in and Chloe and Jessica had tried to help her but Chloe was too protective of Aubrey and Jessica just didn’t understand the privacy part and Stacie’s here, offering to help and she’s so exhausted by everything. 

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Aubrey whispers. 

“Beats me,” Stacie jokes, bumping Aubrey’s shoulder with her own again and Aubrey can’t help but laugh at the response before falling quiet again. 

She’s not sure where or how to begin and the silence stretches on so much that she can feel Stacie grow uneasy next to her.  

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to,” Stacie says quickly. “It’s just, if you need to talk I'm—”  

“I didn’t even know I was being filmed,” Aubrey interrupts. 

“ _What_?” Stacie asks even though she heard the words loud and clear. 

“I didn’t know I was being filmed and now everybody knows how I like to be touched. What I look like and what I sound like. The most intimate parts of my life were stolen and shared with the world,” Aubrey says, reaches up to wipe away her tears angrily because she’d promised herself that she was done crying about this. “I have given _everything_  to this business and in return I wasn’t even allowed to keep that small, private part for myself. How am I supposed to ever trust anybody again?” 

Stacie can’t ignore the sound of Aubrey sniffling, and she can hear in her voice that she’s crying and she’s not sure how to approach this, what to do with a crying Aubrey so instead of focusing on that, she pushes forward to get the whole story, one part still nagging at her brain. 

“Were you and Sophia long term or was it just the one time?” Stacie asks and she feels Aubrey’s breathing stutter as Aubrey turns her head to look at Stacie even though they can’t see each other in the darkness. 

“You really don’t know the whole story?” she asks, can’t actually believe that Stacie doesn’t know because it had been all over the news. 

“I was otherwise… preoccupied,” Stacie explains but Aubrey still doesn’t answer. “I had no idea what was going on in the world that year. You could show me a newspaper article that all children are aliens and I would have believed it.” 

Aubrey doesn’t mean to laugh at that, doesn’t want to give Stacie the impression that she’s laughing at her issues but Stacie laughs along with her and it sets Aubrey a bit at ease. 

“We were together for three years,” Aubrey finally confesses. 

The words drop heavily between them and Stacie’s breath catches loudly as she finally gets the full picture and the severity of the truly fucked up thing that had happened to Aubrey and, “ _Fuck_.” 

“Yeah,” she breathes, lifting the bottle for another sip. 

“What did your parents say when they found out?” 

Aubrey shrugs and Stacie can feel the motion, is expecting words to follow the action but when Aubrey stays silent, Stacie grows concerned. 

“Aubrey?” 

“Hm?” 

“What did your parents say?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“What?” Stacie asks almost breathlessly because there’s something heartbreaking about the tone of Aubrey’s voice. 

“Well, actually…” Aubrey starts and she knows her voice is different, her pitch going up as she tries to keep her words steady because this is just another in a long line of things that she can’t talk about. She can’t verbalise the words and she doesn’t want to keep crying so she shifts, fishes her phone out of her coat pocket and unlocks it, both of them flinching at the bright light. 

Aubrey quickly lowers the brightness of her screen and looks something up on Google, hands her phone to Stacie once she finds what she’s looking for. 

Stacie is staring down at a Perez Hilton article that has a picture of her parents, a picture that is clearly a screenshot of the tape next to it, and a statement below it and as Stacie reads through the article, an increasingly growing feeling of horror settles inside her.

“This is…” 

“Yeah,” Aubrey says with a wry smile when Stacie looks up at her, taking advantage of the light coming from the phone to gauge Aubrey’s expression. “Why do you think I’m sitting out here by myself on Christmas Eve?” Aubrey whispers, looking away from Stacie. 

Stacie looks at her closely, grateful for the light and Aubrey looks sadder than she’s ever seen her and her heart hurts. 

“I’m here,” Stacie tries with an exaggerated smile and Aubrey chuckles softly, shaking her head before tilting it sideways and closely scrutinising Stacie. 

“Why _are_  you here?” 

“My whole family always goes to Greece to visit family for Christmas,” Stacie explains. 

Aubrey hums in acknowledgement, takes her phone back and locks it, pocketing it again. 

“You sent Jessica home?” Stacie asks, trying to steer them back to a safe topic. 

“Six whole days off,” Aubrey says with a small laugh. “She has a really cute nephew and he’s still young so I told her to go.” 

“Oh, is that the one that’s her phone background?” Stacie asks and because it’s dark, she doesn’t see Aubrey turn to her with a peculiar smile. 

“Yes, how do you know that?” 

“Ash won’t shut up about how cute he is,” Stacie says. 

“He is very cute,” Aubrey says. 

“I’ll have to take your word for it.” 

“Ashley went home?” 

“She was complaining about how wrong it is to celebrate Christmas in the snow,” Stacie says with an eye roll. 

“She’s right,” Aubrey says teasingly and Stacie exaggerates a deep sigh. 

“You Southern girls are hard to understand,” Stacie teases and she hears Aubrey let out an almost soundless laugh. “So I guess it’s just you and me this Christmas.” 

“Our first fake Christmas together,” Aubrey says, a terribly put on wistful tone to her voice. 

“Just what the fans and publicists want,” Stacie adds and they both chuckle. 

They sit side by side in silence for a long time before Stacie shifts, twists so she can look at Aubrey even though she can’t make out the blonde in the dark. 

“I’m sorry I’ve been causing you anxiety attacks for the better part of a year,” Stacie says softly. “I’m sorry for everything, really.” 

“It’s okay. I’m sorry I keep bringing up drugs and your past,” Aubrey replies. “And for saying you slept with half of Hollywood.” 

“It’s okay,” Stacie says with a shrug, echoing Aubrey’s words as she settles back next to her. “It’s more like a quarter anyway.” 

They burst out laughing, and it’s a loud and pure sound and Stacie’s pretty sure it’s the first time she’s ever heard Aubrey’s real, genuine laugh and it’s almost cathartic in nature. 

“Do you forgive me?” Stacie asks softly, carefully. 

“Yes,” Aubrey says, bumps Stacie’s shoulder with her own. “Does that mean we’re friends now?” 

“I think so,” Stacie says, nodding slowly. 

“That’s definitely going to make the fake dating a lot easier,” Aubrey comments and Stacie makes a sound of agreement before they fall quiet again. 

“Do you want to go to Disney World?” 

“What?” Aubrey asks in surprise, completely baffled by the unexpected question. 

“Do you want to go to Disney World?” 

“No, I heard you just fine, it’s just… what?”  

“When I can’t make it to Greece with my family I go to Disney World. I mean, I wasn’t gonna go this year because we have to fly out the day after but if you wanna go, we can,” Stacie rambles, shrugs a few times while speaking.  

“We’re in Canada,” Aubrey points out, her tone bordering on patronising.  

“We can take the studio’s jet.”  

“We can’t just ask them to fly us to Disney World,” Aubrey says.  

“They’re making us pretend to date. I think we can ask them for whatever we want.”  

“You’re serious?”  

“Uhm, how did you put it the other day?” Stacie says, pretending to rack her brain for the answer. “Dixie Chicks serious.”  

Aubrey shoves Stacie sideways and the brunette goes down with a loud giggle, her hand shooting out to prevent her from crashing her side into the rough ground and using it to push herself upright again.  

“If I get us a jet, will you go to Disney World with me?”  

“You don’t have to be nice to me just because you feel guilty and you’re trying to make it up to me for the past year,” Aubrey tries to argue.  

“I’m not,” Stacie says immediately. “I’m being nice to you because you haven’t had sex in four years and Disney World is the happiest place on earth,” Stacie quips and Aubrey snorts which is a way better response than she’d expected.  

“You’re making it sound like we’re going to Disney World to get me laid,” Aubrey tries to protest, is grateful for the darkness to hide her blush.  

“Definitely not, since we’re technically fake-dating and that would be super suspish,” Stacie teases but then Aubrey is suddenly reminded of their arrangement.  

She’d been leaning towards saying yes to Stacie’s proposition, the idea of going to Disney World sounding a lot more fun than staying in and binge-watching Christmas movies with Chinese takeout but Stacie’s words are a sharp reminder that they don’t get to just go out in public whenever they want to.  

“I didn’t want to work on Christmas,” Aubrey says, deflating slightly. “If we go, we have to take pictures.”  

“We don’t have to,” Stacie presses. “We’ll go undercover. Take a few secret pictures and post them after we’ve left.”  

“That’s…” Aubrey trails off, considering it. “That’s not a bad plan.”  

“I know I don’t look it, but I’m pretty smart.” 

“You definitely don’t look it,” Aubrey teases. 

“I went to CalTech,” Stacie defends, affronted by Aubrey’s insinuation.  

“What the hell are you doing in show business?”  

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Stacie teases. “So, you in?”  

“Why not,” Aubrey sighs “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”  

“That’s the spirit,” Stacie says blandly and Aubrey laughs.  

 

* * *

 

“Hey, let’s take a picture before we go,” Stacie suggests when she’s packing the last of her things into her bag. 

Aubrey’s tying her hair up into a ponytail and she smiles, nods. 

“Balcony?” Stacie asks but Aubrey shakes her head. 

“The view gives it away.” 

“Good old-fashioned selfie?” Stacie offers. 

“Mirror selfie?” Aubrey says and Stacie lights up. 

“Perfect.” 

Stacie moves towards the large mirror opposite the bed, grabbing her phone as Aubrey steps behind her, wrapping her arms around Stacie’s middle. Aubrey stands on her toes as she leans forwards, pressing her lips to Stacie’s cheek and lingering there with a smile. 

Stacie turns her head slightly to accommodate the blonde, smiling widely as she snaps a picture of them in the mirror. 

Aubrey pulls her lips from Stacie’s cheek but keeps her arms wrapped around the brunette as she looks over her shoulder at the picture. 

“Looks good,” Aubrey says, stepping away completely. 

“Shit, there’s a Disney logo in the corner,” Stacie says as she inspects the picture closer. 

“Just crop it out,” Aubrey says. “Do I have to bring a jacket?” 

“Yeah, it gets cold at night,” Stacie says absentmindedly as she messes with her phone. 

“I don’t want to carry it around all day,” Aubrey says petulantly. 

“We’ll just leave it with the concierge,” Stacie explains, settles on a caption for the Instagram post and turning her phone for Aubrey to approve. 

“It’s good,” Aubrey says, glancing at the post and approving it. “Wait, concierge?” 

“I’ve had to miss a lot of Christmases in Greece,” Stacie admits sheepishly. “You ready to go?” 

“Are you going to be annoyingly tour-guidey?” Aubrey taunts and Stacie simply rolls her eyes in response.

They’re barely in the park before Stacie tugs Aubrey towards one of the merchandising shops. 

“Are you one of those people who comes to Disney World to shop?” Aubrey complains loudly and Stacie all but shoves her into the shop. 

“I just have to pick up a few things,” Stacie grumbles and Aubrey laughs at how disgruntled Stacie looks, turns away from the brunette to look at some snowglobes. She slowly wanders over to the Mickey ears, picks up one of the hats and tries it on. She looks around the shop for a mirror and meets Stacie’s gaze, who smiles widely at the sight.

“You look adorable,” Stacie says with a grin, points to a mirror and when Aubrey looks at herself she has to admit that it’s a cute look. “Do you want to get it?” 

Aubrey quirks her mouth in consideration before nodding once. “Would you get it for me?” she asks sweetly, blinks rapidly and bashfully at Stacie who laughs. 

“I already got you one,” Stacie says and that snaps Aubrey out of her — quite honestly stellar — mocking expression. 

“What?” she says but the line moves up and it’s Stacie’s turn so she looks away from Aubrey and turns to the guy behind the counter. 

“Hi there, I’m picking up a packet for Anastasia Conrad?” 

The teenage boy working the register looks up from the computer at her with a polite smile, before recognising her and then his smile drops as his eyes go wide. 

“Oh my god, you’re—” 

“Shh,” Stacie interrupts gently, still smiling. “I’m trying to lay low today.” 

The boy looks absolutely star struck, even as he types something into the computer. “It says here that I have to ask you for ID,” he says in an apologetic tone. 

“I understand,” Stacie says, rifles through her small bag for her wallet, fishing out her ID and handing it over. “There you go.” 

“Alright, so just to confirm, I have two Platinum MagicBands, a personalised Minnie Ears hairband, a personalised Mickey Ears hat, a Memory Maker package and the VIP concierge service?” 

“That’s right,” Stacie confirms. 

“Okay, let me just go get your items.” 

“Do I get my ID back?” Stacie says teasingly and the boy blushes a deep red.

“Oh, yeah, totally, of course,” he says, stumbles over the words as he hands the ID back to Stacie before disappearing to the back. 

“Bree,” Stacie calls out softly, and Aubrey turns away from the Cinderella crossbody bags she’s looking at and joins Stacie at the counter.

Aubrey starts looking at the trinkets for sale at the counter, holds up a Little Mermaid pen that lights up when you click it when the teenage boy returns with a few items in his hand. 

He stops cold at the sight of Aubrey, who’s completely unaware of the attention as she clicks the pen with a giggle. 

“Oh my god,” he says and Stacie grins, nudges Aubrey. “That’s—” 

“Yes,” Stacie says and Aubrey looks up, smile softening when she sees the teenage boy’s expression. 

“You two are—” 

“Uh-huh,” Stacie confirms. 

“Okay cool. Cool cool cool,” he says, repeats the word a few more times as he takes the last few steps closer to them. “Sorry, I’m a little starstruck.” 

“It’s okay,” Aubrey says with a soft laugh. 

“You’re doing great,” Stacie says reassuringly. 

“Thanks,” he says quickly, lays out the items in his arms. “Do you know how everything works? The VIP service, Memory Maker package, and MagicBands?” 

“Yep,” Stacie confirms and Aubrey turns to her, looks surprised and slightly impressed. 

“Great. Here are your MagicBands then,” he says, lays out a purple and red band and Aubrey reaches out for the red one, making Stacie smile as she reaches for the blonde’s wrist to help her put on the wristband. “And these are your personalised items.” 

Stacie grins down at the Mickey ears hat, picks it up and turns it over to see Aubrey’s name embroidered in a fancy golden script. 

“Awesome,” she says and hands it to Aubrey who smiles softly at the item before looking up at Stacie reverently. 

“Is there anything else I can help you with today?” the teenage boy asks, watching the two interact eagerly. 

“No, I think that’s it,” Stacie says with a smile, then turns to Aubrey. “Unless you want to buy that pen?” 

“No,” Aubrey says although she sounds a little unsure as she puts the pen back. She looks up at the teenage boy, who’s still looking at them eagerly and smiles. “You look like you have a question.” 

The boy flushes, hesitating. “I know you said you’re trying to lay low…” 

“You can always ask,” Stacie encourages with a smile but the teenage boy only has eyes for Aubrey. 

“I saw you in Les Mis when I was twelve and you were so good and I wanted to stay for stage door but my parents wouldn’t let me and I was wondering if I could get a picture with you?” he asks in a rush of words, looking at Aubrey hopefully. 

“Of course,” Aubrey says and Stacie smiles at how _soft_  Aubrey sounds. 

“Hey, you have to promise not to post the picture right away,” Stacie says quickly when the boy digs in his pocket for his phone.

He turns to her with wide eyes. “Of course! I’ll wait until tomorrow!” 

“Alright,” Stacie says, then reaches for the boy’s phone. “Let me.” 

“You can be in the picture too!” the boy says eagerly. 

“It’s okay if you only want a picture with Aubrey,” Stacie teases and the boy blushes. “You won’t hurt my feelings.”

“My sister loves you. She’d be so jealous,” the boy adds with a grin and Aubrey laughs. 

“Can’t really refuse that, can I?” Stacie says to Aubrey who tries to hold back laughter as she shakes her head. Stacie holds up the phone and snaps a quick picture of them before handing the phone back to the boy. 

“Thank you so, so much,” he says, holds the phone tightly in his hands. 

“Merry Christmas,” Aubrey says with a coy smile and Stacie slides her hand into Aubrey’s. 

“Merry Christmas and enjoy your day!” the boy says with a genuine smile and they turn away to leave. 

“How’s your ego?” Aubrey teases as they exit the shop, tightening her fingers around Stacie’s. 

“A little bruised,” Stacie jokes, stops them by a bench and reluctantly slips her hand out of Aubrey’s. 

She reaches up and tugs Aubrey’s hair free from its ponytail, gently runs her fingers through Aubrey’s hair to loosen the strands before reaching into the plastic bag and producing the Mickey ears hat. Aubrey smiles and stands completely still as Stacie carefully places the hat on her head. 

Aubrey’s smiling up at her, eyes bright and Stacie can’t help but mirror her expression, fingers softly trailing down, thumb brushing against Aubrey’s cheek as her hand falls away. 

“You look so cute,” Stacie whispers. 

“Where’s yours?” Aubrey asks, tries to pretend she’s not blushing. 

Stacie looks away long enough to reach into the bag for the Minnie ears hairband and Aubrey takes it from her, stands on her toes as she gingerly puts the band on Stacie’s head. 

“There, now we match,” Aubrey says and Stacie smiles. 

“Come on, sunshine, let’s go get our adventure on.” 

It’s supposed to be their day off and the only time their picture is being taken is on rides and when meeting Disney characters, so there’s no real reason for them to be holding hands all day, but Aubrey feels strangely comforted by Stacie gently tugging her along, feels anchored by it so she doesn’t let go of the brunette’s hand all day. 

Aubrey buys them lunch with only minimal bickering — “You bought me Mickey Ears, Stacie, I’m paying.” “I have a Disney credit card, let me pay!” — and they go on all the rides — “we don’t have to stand in line?” “VIP perks, baby” — and they end up having a great day. 

At sunset, Stacie drags Aubrey back to the front of Cinderella’s castle and flags down a photographer. 

“This is a classic shot,” Stacie says and Aubrey can’t argue that point. 

They stand side by side and smile for the camera, and then the photographer says, “How about a kiss?!” 

Stacie hesitates for a beat but Aubrey steps forward, leans up and presses her lips against Stacie’s, the way they’ve done countless times before and Stacie melts against her, arm sliding around her middle and kissing her back. 

Stacie is convinced that they’re only doing it for the picture, until Aubrey swipes her tongue along her lower lip and Stacie lets her deepen the kiss and suddenly she’s not so sure it’s all an act anymore. 

Aubrey’s hands slide up her arms as she moves even closer, lips moving against Stacie’s insistently, breaking away with a giggle when, in their distraction, Stacie almost knocks her Mickey hat off her head. 

Stacie smiles, eyes fluttering open and meeting Aubrey’s twinkling ones. Aubrey is smiling serenely, and Stacie wants to lean in for another kiss when somebody wolf-whistles at them and they crash back into reality. 

Aubrey clears her throat, eyes suddenly guarded as she steps away and Stacie turns to find the photographer still taking pictures of them, his wide grin obvious even behind the large camera obscuring part of his face. 

“Thank you,” Stacie calls out to the photographer, waves him away, before turning back to Aubrey. “More rides?” 

“Yes please,” Aubrey says, and her smile isn’t as sincere as it had been earlier, her expression a little closed off but Stacie doesn’t overthink it, especially when Aubrey slips her hand into Stacie’s and tangles their fingers. 

They go on a few more rides and grab a snack before Stacie notices Aubrey shiver. She tries to hide it, but Stacie can see the goosebumps on her skin and when she leans in close, Aubrey sways into her, seeking out body heat. 

Stacie wraps her arm around Aubrey, who completely melts against her. 

“How are you so warm?” she asks, voice muffled where her face is pressed against Stacie’s shoulder. 

“C’mon, let’s go get our coats and start walking to Main Street for the show,” Stacie says with a laugh, encourages Aubrey to twist so she can wrap her arm around the blonde’s shoulders, Aubrey’s arm around Stacie’s waist as she stays close. Even after Aubrey and Stacie have their coats on, Aubrey’s cold, so she sticks close to Stacie, and when they’re led to the VIP watching area, Stacie shifts Aubrey to stand directly in front of her and wraps her arms around Aubrey. 

“Can you see?” Aubrey asks, twisting enough so she can look at Stacie’s face. 

“Yup,” Stacie answers, tightens her arms around Aubrey. 

She opens her mouth to say something else when the music starts playing and the retort dies on her lips as she turns to the starting fireworks show with wide eyes. 

It’s a fifteen-minute long show, and Aubrey doesn’t move away from Stacie for the whole duration of it. She smiles when she hears Stacie mumble along to some of the inspirational words in the middle, about family and home, and it warms her heart. The show comes to a resounding end with an explosion of light and sound and Aubrey is in absolute awe. 

“We have to go,” Stacie whispers into her ear, before she can even start recovering from the amazing fireworks show she’s just seen. 

“What? Why?” Aubrey asks petulantly, frowns when Stacie lets go of her but then they’re holding hands again as Stacie quickly leads her away. 

“Somebody recognised us and took a picture and people are starting to stare,” Stacie whispers quickly, and when Aubrey looks back over her shoulder, she can see a group of people pointing and mouthing her name. 

“Dammit,” she says with a soft frown. “Wait, what about our pictures?” 

“We can get them online,” Stacie reassures with a smile as she leads them over to the valet service. “Dinner time?” 

“Yes please,” Aubrey says, calming somewhat now that they’re being ushered into a side building and away from the crowds by the same concierge who’d brought them their coats. 

They grab a quick dinner, both of them tired from walking around all day so they don’t talk much and when Aubrey gets the call that they need to head to the airport soon, it’s like their bubble’s been burst, both of them reluctant to talk about the amazing day they’d had together. 

They’re strapped into their seats on the jet and Stacie falls asleep ten minutes after take off, and when she starts sliding sideways, Aubrey lets Stacie’s head end up on her shoulder, her loose brown hair tickling Aubrey’s neck as Stacie snores softly. 

Aubrey can’t resist reaching for her phone and taking a selfie, posting it on Instagram with the caption ‘Merry Christmas x’ and scrolling through her feed for the rest of the flight. When she comes across Stacie’s post from that morning she smiles, and for once it doesn’t feel like a chore to like the photo and comment a heart emoji under it. 

 

* * *

 

“Everyone’s so excited to see you!” Giuliana starts and Stacie can’t help but beam at the woman. “You have had such a great year.”  

“I really have,” Stacie says, nodding.  

“How does it feel?”  

“Honestly? I’m a little overwhelmed. All the nominations for Tipping the Scales were so surprising but I’m so proud of our movie and how much people are loving it. Sometimes I’ll just scroll through my Twitter feed and read about people who say how much the movie means to them and it makes it all worth it,” Stacie answers genuinely.  

“And you’re nominated for best actress as well!” Giuliana adds and Stacie can’t help but chuckle, look down bashfully.  

“I am.”  

“Congratulations.”  

“Thank you. It’s so insane because the people nominated this year are so incredibly talented that it’s wild that I’m up there with them. It doesn’t feel real.”  

“It will feel real when you win,” Giuliana says with a wink and Stacie laughs, shakes her head.  

“No, c’mon, have you been talking to Aubrey?” Stacie exclaims, looking around mockingly as if searching for the blonde.  

“Not yet, I was hoping to!” Giuliana says between laughs. “What makes you say that?”  

“She keeps telling me I’m going to win and I tell her not to jinx it. She’ll be like ‘baby you have to wear waterproof mascara because you’re going to cry when you win’ and how am I supposed to argue with that?”  

“You don’t!” 

“Exactly! I know I’m supposed to trust her judgment because she’s been in the business for forever and…” Stacie trails off distractedly when she glances over Giuliana’s shoulder and sees Aubrey standing to the side, watching them. “Sorry, she’s actually right there,” Stacie says, turning to the camera as she points at Aubrey before gesturing her over. “Bree, c’mon.”  

“I don’t want to crash your interview,” Aubrey protests meekly but one of the assistants is already nudging her closer and Stacie holds out her hand invitingly.  

“You’re not, join the fun!” Giuliana adds, smiling as they quickly hug.  

“We were just talking about you,” Stacie says, sliding a hand around Aubrey’s waist and pulling her closer.  

“Good things, I hope,” Aubrey teases, leaning into the embrace and smiling sweetly up at Stacie.  

“She was mentioning how you keep saying she’s going to win,” Giuliana supplies helpfully.  

“It’s because she’s so great,” Aubrey says, still smiling up at Stacie.  

“How do you balance your favouritism in the category, though?” Giuliana asks and Aubrey laughs, already knowing where this is going. “Because Chloe Beale is also nominated for best supporting actress.”  

“I was actually just talking to Chloe and she said she won’t be mad at me if I want Stacie to win, but then she threw in some good old-fashioned best friend guilt tripping so either way, I’ll have to make it up to one of them,” Aubrey says and they all laugh.  

“We absolutely love your friendship with Chloe Beale and the other day on Instagram you had a lovely little interaction that I _have_  to ask about. Is there going to be an East Wing reunion? Maybe a movie?”  

“I know Allison is around here somewhere and I’m pretty sure she has more sway with Aaron Sorkin than I do so you should ask her,” Aubrey says.  

“Tactful answer,” Stacie compliments and Giuliana laughs as she nods.  

“Of course I also want to congratulate you on your nomination,” Giuliana says and Aubrey smiles, thanks her quickly. “Quickly before I let you two go, Stacie, what can you tell us about Voyage?”  

“Absolutely nothing,” Stacie says immediately and Giuliana groans exaggeratedly. “It’s all under wraps. I can only tell you that Kathryn Bigelow is directing and that I’m in it along with Evangeline Lilly and Rachel McAdams.”  

“Sounds exciting!”  

“Sure sounds that way,” Stacie says with a wink and Giuliana groans when Stacie refuses to take her bait.  

“Really? Nothing?”  

“I don’t even know anything, that’s how secretive she’s being,” Aubrey supplies and Giuliana finally deflates and accepts it.  

“Well okay, I’ll let you two go, thank you for stopping by.”  

“Thank _you_ ,” Stacie compliments.  

“Always a pleasure,” Aubrey says.  

“You two are always so much fun to talk to,” Giuliana says. “Enjoy the Golden Globes.”  

“Thanks Giuliana,” Stacie says.  

“You too,” Aubrey adds, pulling away from Stacie enough to reach for her hand and lead her away from the E! interviewing nook.  

“I’m surprised she didn’t ask about us,” Stacie whispers into her ear as they slowly queue up to go inside for the ceremony.  

“She got in trouble last year for joking about gay relationships when talking to Matt Bomer,” Aubrey whispers, leaning up so they’re not overheard. “I’m pretty sure there’s a producer in her ear screaming at her to stay away from any potential land mines.”  

“Yikes,” Stacie says, shuffling closer to Aubrey and wrapping her arm around the blonde’s waist so they can continue to gossip under the guise of having a private moment. “Were you really talking to Chloe?”  

“Yes.”  

“Did she really guilt trip you?” Stacie asks.  

“No, she said she knows you’re going to win,” Aubrey explains and Stacie shoots her a look. “She really did. You can ask her.”  

“Hm,” Stacie says with a wide smile, very aware of where they are and how they’re being watched but still wanting Aubrey to know how much she doesn’t believe her.  

“Why aren’t you talking about Voyage?”  

“Kathryn doesn’t want us to which I totally get,” Stacie says, tightens her arm around Aubrey as the blonde twists to chastely peck her cheek.  

“So we’re not talking about it on any red carpet?” Aubrey asks to confirm, smiling when Stacie turns her head and kisses her lips quickly.  

“Nope,” Stacie asserts. “Until Kathryn says it’s a green light.”  

“Got it,” Aubrey says, smiling softly as they shuffle forwards, stepping closer to Stacie when there seem to be more people crammed around them than before.  

“Are you going to introduce me to Chloe tonight?” Stacie asks.  

“I don’t know,” Aubrey says and then Stacie turns to her with a soft frown that Aubrey immediately reaches up to smoothen out with her fingers. “Not because of you,” Aubrey explains quickly.  

Someone bumps into her and she turns to see who it is, the assistant immediately apologising to her and Stacie smiles and dismisses him, but she does notice how much more crowded it’s becoming around them, the final part of the red carpet becoming a bottleneck for people wanting to go inside so she gently guides Aubrey to stand in front of her, keeps her arm wrapped around the blonde and presses herself close to Aubrey’s back.  

“Thanks,” Aubrey says quickly, leaning back into the embrace. “Chloe’s meeting Meryl Streep today so she’s totally distracted by that.”  

“What?” Stacie asks, amusement clear as her mouth brushes against Aubrey’s ear.  

“Allison—”  

“—Janney?” Stacie asks quickly and Aubrey nods.  

“—is like super close friends with Meryl Streep and they’re both here tonight and Chloe hasn’t met Meryl Streep yet so Allison said she’d introduce them.”  

“Have you met Meryl Streep?” Stacie asks in awe and Aubrey twists her head to look at her, smiles and nods.  

“After the thing with my parents happened, everybody from East Wing kinda rallied around me and took care of me, trading me around for the holidays and all that.”  

“Like a family,” Stacie says and Aubrey nods. 

“Chloe and I started East Wing when we were ten.”  

“You were babies,” Stacie comments.  

“We were babies acting with a bunch of big-name adults so they’ve always been protective of us and they were like our parents on set so when I say Chloe is like my sister and they’re like my family, I mean it,” Aubrey explains, voice a little thick and Stacie tightens her arms around the blonde, presses a quick kiss to her cheek. “I spent Thanksgiving with Allison and told her everything. The stuff with Sophia and our breakup and my parents… Do you remember the movie The Hours?”  

“I don’t,” Stacie says.  

“Allison was in it with Meryl Streep and they kiss,” Aubrey says, twisting just in time to see Stacie’s face light up.  

“What?!” 

“Yep.”  

“Definitely gonna look that up on YouTube as soon as we’re inside,” Stacie says and Aubrey laughs.  

“It’s not even a long or spectacular moment, it’s just a sweet kiss but I was 13 when the movie came out and I remember seeing it and for the first time thinking I might actually like girls,” Aubrey says and Stacie drums her fingers along Aubrey’s side to get her attention, waits for the blonde to twist her head.  

“Your gay awakening was seeing Meryl Streep and Allison Janney kiss?” Stacie whispers and Aubrey nods. “That’s so pure.”  

“When was yours?”  

“I was twelve, sleeping over at my best friend’s house when we found a box of her older brother’s Playboy magazines and my best friend was grossed out but I was super into it.”  

Aubrey laughs a little too loudly and attracts the attention of a few people shuffling along near them so she dips her head and lets her hair curtain around her face as she composes herself, biting her lips when she feels Stacie tremble in an effort to suppress her own laughter.  

“I want to say I’m surprised but I’m really not,” Aubrey whispers and Stacie giggles into her ear.  

“When did you meet Meryl Streep?” Stacie says then, trying to get them back on safe grounds.  

“I told Allison about seeing her kiss Meryl Streep and she lit up and immediately said that she was introducing us to each other because it would for sure get me out of my funk.”  

“Did it get you out of your funk?” 

“No, but it was worth a shot.”  

“Does Meryl Streep know that she was part of your gay awakening?” Stacie teases.  

“No,” Aubrey says sharply. “And she never will. She actually likes me, I don’t want to weird her out.”  

“I’ve met Julia Roberts,” Stacie says after a beat of silence and Aubrey actually stops and turns around in her arms, shoots her a wild look.  

“You have not.”  

Stacie nods slowly, smugly, holding eye contact with her. “Yup.”  

“I love her. She’s on my top 10 list of role models,” Aubrey says seriously and Stacie’s smile melts at how adorable she looks as she says the words.  

“My agent is a close friend of hers and her twins love the Alana Jackson books so I was invited to their birthday party last year ,” Stacie explains and Aubrey shakes her head in awe, but then the crowd shuffles and she turns around again, keeps Stacie close. “I also met Cate Blanchett last year.”  

“Is she as attractive in person as she is on screen?” Aubrey asks over her shoulder.  

“She’s way hotter,” Stacie says matter-of-factly and Aubrey nods, believing her. “Although not that tall. We’re the same height.”  

“You’re tall,” Aubrey says flippantly.  

“I’m not that tall.”  

“Taller than average.”  

“It’s not something I really pay attention to,” Stacie says with a shrug. “I’ve always been the little spoon.”  

“If they ask about our relationship, please know that you would 100% be the big spoon.”  

“What? No way,” Stacie complains immediately.  

“Yes,” Aubrey says strongly, stepping away and taking Stacie’s hand as the crowd finally thins. She tugs Stacie closer, leans up and whispers, “There is no way that I’m not the little spoon in our relationship.”  

“Just the fact that you’re so bossy makes you the big spoon,” Stacie hisses back.  

“Bossiness has nothing to do with spoon categorisation.”  

“You sound like a fucking nerd,” Stacie shoots back, following Aubrey into the ballroom, smiling at the usher as he leads them to their table.  

“But I’m right,” Aubrey says smugly.  

“For the sake of our fake relationship—” Stacie says, whispers the words right into Aubrey’s ear. “—and for no other reason, you can be the little spoon if people ask.”  

“Thank you,” Aubrey says, turns her head to quickly kiss Stacie’s cheek before flitting away, greeting the people at their table before sitting down.  

Stacie looks away to quickly roll her eyes before sliding into the chair next to Aubrey’s and saying hi to the people sitting around them.  

The Golden Globes isn’t her first awards show, and it’s definitely not Aubrey’s first but it’s still a thrill to be there. Stacie sits back and takes it all in, but most of her attention is focused on Aubrey and watching her interact with people in the industry. She’s gotten used to seeing Aubrey with people from the media but at the Globes, all the journalists are far away and they only need to be careful of the live cameras for the televised programme and they’re surrounded by actors and partners and industry people and she gets to see a whole new side of Aubrey.  

It’s not quite the relaxed and somewhat quiet version of Aubrey that she’d gotten a glimpse of at Disney World or in their private hangouts since, but it’s also not the rigid mask she wears at public events and she’s completely intriguing to Stacie. 

During breaks Aubrey mingles and chats with several different people, always keeping Stacie close by and introducing her to the people she hasn’t met yet and whispering to her whether she likes them or not as soon as they’re gone.  

Stacie has the pleasure of introducing her to Jordan Peele, who seems completely awestruck by Aubrey even as Aubrey fawns over him and tells him she’s a huge fan and it’s an adorable moment, the two of them just completely in admiration of each other.  

When Stacie wins the award for best supporting actress, she’s so surprised and tears spring to her eyes and Aubrey stands up before her and has to yank her out of her seat because she’s immobilised with shock.  

She’s looking at Aubrey’s beaming smile, can feel the warmth of Aubrey’s hands cupping her face when it finally starts setting in and Aubrey leans in to kiss her lips quickly.  

“I told you so,” she whispers in the space between them and it snaps Stacie back to reality and she can’t even be annoyed at Aubrey about being so damn smug about being right _again_ because she’s smiling so widely. “Go,” Aubrey urges and she makes her way up onto the stage to receive the award.  

She stutters her way through her acceptance speech that she’d only half prepared and when she’s almost done, she glances over the crowd, finds Aubrey smiling at her with an enraptured look in her eyes that doesn’t seem forced at all and her heart flutter as she says, “And to you, sunshine, you’re the strongest person I know and I’m so happy we get to share this.”  

 

* * *

 

“Hey,” Aubrey calls out softly, sitting up on the couch when she notices Stacie close her script. “Can I ask you something?”  

“Sure,” Stacie says, getting up from the table where she’d been sat and joining Aubrey.  

“It’s about your time in rehab.”  

“What do you wanna know?” Stacie asks, trying her hardest to keep her voice level.  

“What happened?”  

“Why do you ask?” Stacie says, curling her feet under her and doing a remarkably stellar job of keeping her expression blank.  

“Curiosity,” Aubrey says, not sure how else to phrase it but hating how closed off Stacie suddenly seems.  

“But why?”  

“We’ve talked about my stuff but not yours.”  

“Afraid you won’t have good blackmail material like I do?” Stacie teases good-naturedly but her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes so the joke falls flat between them.  

“You know what? Never mind,” Aubrey says with a deep frown, kicking away the blanket that’s draped over her lap and getting up. “If you don’t want to tell me you can just say so, you don’t have to be an asshole about it.”  

“Hey!” Stacie says sharply, halting Aubrey in her effort to leave and go back to her own room. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” Stacie says softly, pleadingly and Aubrey turns back but very pointedly doesn’t meet her eyes.  

“Will you please come back to the couch?” Stacie urges, holding Aubrey’s blanket up invitingly. “I’d like to tell you what happened.”  

“You clearly prefer sharing it more with the world than with me,” Aubrey argues, crosses her arms even as she stares at the soft blanket longingly. “It’s fine.”  

Her shrug and averted eyes belie the truth and Stacie knows it.  

“You caught me off-guard, Aubrey,” Stacie explains. “It’s easier being open and free with strangers because their judgments can’t hurt and I’m still getting used to this whole friends who share thing so I’m sorry I lashed out.”  

Aubrey’s still standing with her arms crossed but she finally meets Stacie’s eyes, softening when she sees the genuinely apologetic look on her face.  

“If you’re not ready or you don’t—” Aubrey tries to say but Stacie immediately shakes her head to stop her.  

“I am, I want to tell you,” Stacie says, then drops her voice. “Please come back,” she repeats, pats the cushion of the couch and Aubrey finally relents, sighs as she drops her arms and drops back down on the couch.  

Stacie smiles and throws the warm blanket over Aubrey again, softly rubbing Aubrey’s leg through the blanket in an effort to de-escalate their tension.  

“What do you already know?” Stacie starts, twisting so she fully faces Aubrey on the couch, crossing her legs under her body to settle more comfortably.  

Aubrey shrugs, shakes her head softly. “Not much substantial, only what was in the tabloids. You and Cara Delevingne went to rehab together.”  

Stacie shakes her head immediately then, rolls her eyes.  

“What?”  

“No, not at you,” Stacie explains quickly. “The tabloids.” Aubrey shoots her a wry smile then. “We didn’t go to rehab together, we went at the same time. She went to some place in the Valley and I went to a centre in Kansas.”  

“Okay…”  

“Contrary to popular knowledge, I didn’t actually go to rehab because of drugs,” Stacie starts, pauses when she sees Aubrey frown in concern. “I was suicidal.”  

Aubrey opens her mouth to say something but Stacie stops her with a hand, shakes her head and Aubrey settles back against the couch, eyes more worried than ever.  

“I have ADHD. I’ve had it for like forever, since I was a kid. My parents put me on long-lasting meds when I was young and they worked pretty well and I used them up until I graduated college and started Alana Jackson. I was working super long hours and because of the side effects, I couldn’t fall asleep so I stopped and all the worst parts of my ADHD were kinda dealt with by an assistant constantly keeping me on track and if I was really struggling I would just take an Adderall for a quick fix. I was doing the trilogy and the X-Men movies and it was four years of non-stop work and then it just… stopped.”  

“You crashed,” Aubrey whispers and Stacie nods, playing with the edge of the blanket spread between them.  

“So hard. It was really rough, Alana Jackson was my whole life for four years and suddenly I didn’t know what to do anymore,” Stacie says, voice small and Aubrey feels her heart break when Stacie looks away and presses her lips tightly together to try not to cry.  

“So why did the tabloids say drugs were involved?” Aubrey prods carefully after silence stretches between them.  

“Because they were,” Stacie admits and Aubrey’s confused again. “The original plan was to go to graduate school and just fade away into obscurity, but the X-Men films became super popular and that closed a lot of doors. I applied to grad school but it had been four years since I’d graduated so I’m not even surprised I got rejected but then when I tried to stay in Hollywood it was like I was spoiled goods or something.”  

“The industry sucks that way,” Aubrey agrees with a nod.  

“And I had like, two strikes, coming from a young adult series and comic movies,” Stacie says with a wry smile that Aubrey mirrors. “I was just not in a great state of mind and barely sleeping when I started doing Summer Solstice so one of the assistants gave me Paxil and that worked really well. When the movie came out and was a hit, it was such a relief and I was getting calls to do more stuff and I felt great again, I felt like myself but then slowly all my bad ADHD habits came back and I didn’t want to ruin my great mood so I went to my doctor and he put me on Concerta.”  

“Oh no,” Aubrey breathes, all too aware of the types of mood disorder medications and their reactions to each other, and Stacie finally meets her eyes again, nods slowly.  

“I was an engineering major in college, not chemistry, how was I supposed to know?” she says jokingly, tries to lighten the situation. “The Paxil wasn’t prescribed so he didn’t know I was taking it and I didn’t think it was worth mentioning and the two did not go well together at all.”  

“What happened?”  

“Ambien was introduced to the mix,” Stacie jokes, voice forcibly light and cheery as Aubrey’s eyes go wide.  

“Stacie, no,” Aubrey can’t help but admonish but Stacie just nods slowly.  

“The Paxil and the Concerta reacted badly to each other and I was _not_  doing well. Sometimes I’d go days without sleeping and I was so desperate to just sleep and feel like myself again that I started taking Ambien. Take those lovely three meds, mix them together, add a healthy dose of alcohol and hardcore partying and what do you get?”  

“Suicidal thoughts,” Aubrey supplies, circling them back to Stacie’s first words. “Fuck.”  

“Yeah…” Stacie breathes, plucking at the frayed edge of the blanket again before looking up and meeting Aubrey’s eyes with a forced smile. “Any questions?”  

Aubrey chuckles softly at Stacie’s attempt to deflect to humour, reaches out with her foot to nudge Stacie’s leg. “Are you okay now?”  

“Yeah,” Stacie says, forced expression melting into a small smile. “I’m on a delicate balance of meds now and I regularly see my doctor. And I try to stay away from hard liquor.”  

Aubrey nods in understanding.  

“The night we met is actually one of the last times I’ve been drunk,” Stacie admits in a small voice, glancing up at Aubrey and seeing the woman smiling at her, finally grasping the truly complicated situation of their first meeting.  

“How was Cara Delevingne involved?” Aubrey asks, giving Stacie an out.  

“We were having fun together,” Stacie shrugs, rolls her eyes when Aubrey arches an eyebrow, eyes twinkling with mirth.  

“They made it seem like you two were…” Aubrey trails off, trying to find the right term without upsetting Stacie. “Ride or die together.”  

Stacie actually laughs at that, a loud, deep sound that Aubrey can’t help but smile in response to.  

“No,” she finally says, laughter quieting down to the occasional chuckle. “We were definitely not ‘ride or die’. We were just having a ton of sex and got caught up in our own separate prescription med issues at the same time. She has a great body but not the kind I’d die for,” Stacie says, the last part of her sentence added offhandedly.  

“Is there a kind you _would_ die for?” Aubrey can’t help but tease, coy smile on her face.  

“Hm,” Stacie hums, carefully watching Aubrey as she pretends to mull over the question. “Maybe.”  

Aubrey holds her stare evenly and Stacie’s the first one to look away as she lets her gaze trail down Aubrey’s torso and back up. When Stacie looks at her again, Aubrey arches an eyebrow and points to herself, the question clear.  

Stacie tilts her head, purses her lips. “Maybe.”  

Aubrey smiles then, looks away with a soft, exasperated shake of the head.  

“Since we’re in the spirit of sharing,” Stacie starts and Aubrey groans preemptively. “I had a sex dream about you.”  

Aubrey had been leaning away to reach for her phone when she stutters to a stop, an incredulous, “What?” falling from her lips almost involuntarily.  

“It was before we became friends,” Stacie explains cheekily.  

“I thought you hated me.”  

“Aubrey, you’re super hot, regardless of whether I like you or not,” Stacie says matter-of-factly and Aubrey rolls her eyes but the blush creeping up on her cheeks gives her away.  

“Well, I hope it was good for you,” Aubrey says, squaring back her shoulders and sitting up straighter and Stacie can’t help but laugh at how Aubrey’s trying to reassert her cool exterior.  

“Would have been better if it was real,” Stacie says lightly, and when Aubrey snaps her eyes to look at Stacie, she finds the brunette casually inspecting her nails.  

“Let’s stick to trying to be friends,” Aubrey says.  

“In the spirit of friendship, I have to ask,” Stacie replies, dropping her hand back into her lap. “I understand the why of the no sex for four years thing,” she starts. “I just don’t understand the _how_.”  

“What do you mean?”  

“How do you not have sex for four years?” Stacie says, shooting her a pained look and Aubrey finally understands, barks out a sharp laugh.  

“Not everybody has as… healthy—” Stacie narrows her eyes at Aubrey in warning. “—a sex life as you do.”  

“Thank you for politely acknowledging the Hunter,” Stacie starts proudly and Aubrey rolls her eyes. “And also, I don’t for a minute believe that you don’t enjoy sex.”  

Aubrey shoots her a dark look but Stacie shakes her head, quickly dispelling that line of thought.  

“Not like _that_ , I mean that you’re all fire and brimstone and you burn as hot as a thousand suns,” Stacie explains.  

She’s about to continue when Aubrey interrupts her, arching an eyebrow and saying, “Wait is that why you call me sunshine?”  

“No,” Stacie says, shakes her head but smiling cheekily. “I started calling you that ironically because of your sunny disposition.”  

Her expression is gleeful and almost daring Aubrey to answer. Aubrey takes a long time to say something, and Stacie thinks she’s going to let the jab slide, but then one of her blanket-covered legs shoots out and kicks at Stacie’s shin.  

“Ow!” she yelps instinctively and Aubrey just smiles tightly as Stacie wraps a hand around her ankle. “No, but seriously.”  

“What?”  

“You’re like the queen of pent-up aggression and adrenaline,” Stacie says. “All that energy has to go somewhere. How have you not had sex in four years?”  

“Well for the past year and a half it’s gone to yelling at you,” Aubrey teases and Stacie grins.  

“Touché.”  

“And it’s not for lack of trying,” Aubrey mumbles under her breath then but Stacie catches it, eyes narrowing as she considers the words.  

“What does that mean?”  

“After the whole Sophia thing blew up, I tried.”  

“To have sex again?” Stacie prods and Aubrey nods almost imperceptibly, gaze darting all over the place.  

“I went to a friend who I knew I could trust and who was willing to help me out and we tried but I could just never…”  

Stacie has to bite down on her lips hard to avoid smiling, doesn’t want to make Aubrey think that she’s laughing at her or the situation but the blonde’s cheeks are bright red and she’s trying to gesture with her hands but she’s just moving them around vaguely and pinning Stacie down with a pointed look.  

“Never?” Stacie can’t help but asks even though she knows exactly what Aubrey’s implying but wants to hear her say the words.  

“Finish,” Aubrey finally says through gritted teeth and she’s so focused on trying to calm down her warm and undoubtedly red cheeks that she doesn’t see Stacie grow concerned, her playful expression dropping into concern.  

“Aubrey,” Stacie starts slowly and Aubrey frowns at the serious tone, not quite understanding how they’ve gone from playful banter to Stacie suddenly being worried. “Have you not had an orgasm in four years?”  

“Of course I have!” Aubrey says, rolling eyes in exasperation at Stacie’s unnecessarily horrified tone and how it had made Aubrey expect a way worse question than that. “You might not be entirely familiar with it, or even need to, but you don’t need another person to have an orgasm, Stacie,” Aubrey adds mockingly.  

“I know that! And I masturbate too, no need to be condescending about it,” Stacie snaps before her brain can catch up with what she’s saying, her tone filled with affront but then Aubrey is smiling smugly and Stacie realises she’s been tricked. “Oh, you bitch.”  

“Thank you,” Aubrey says with a laugh, but then her smile freezes, gaze dropping away from Stacie’s.  

“What wrong?”  

“I don’t even miss the sex,” Aubrey says and Stacie looks so bewildered that she can’t help but chuckle, shake her head softly at Stacie’s shock. “I miss the intimacy.”  

“Honestly? That’s probably why the sex with your friend didn’t work out,” Stacie explains with a shrug. “Something like that happens to you… you can’t just have sex with a reliable friend and think you’ll get over it. You need the connection and intimacy with a partner to make it work,” Stacie says, glancing up at Aubrey and squirming when she finds herself suddenly under intense scrutiny.  

“Hm,” Aubrey hums, tilting her head and regarding Stacie closely, a little surprised by the honest and perceptive insight. “That’s exactly what Evan said.”  

“Seriously? Evan?” Stacie exclaims and Aubrey nods with a coy smile. “Your close friend who tried to help you have an orgasm is Evan Rachel Wood? Are you fucking kidding me?”  

Aubrey can’t suppress her amusement anymore, bursts out into loud laughter even as Stacie grows more petulant.  

“Wow you _really_  like her,” Aubrey teases, nudging Stacie’s leg with her foot and Stacie shoots her a dark look as she knocks away Aubrey’s leg.  

“You know, I was actually worried about you for a second there,” Stacie says. “You’re such a bitch.”  

“Aww, you care,” Aubrey taunts with a mocking pout and Stacie just gives her the middle finger.  

“I thought we were trying to be friends. That comes with caring,” Stacie grumbles.  

“I’m sorry I made fun of your crush, Care Bear,” Aubrey offers as a way of truce but Stacie just glares at her. “And I’m glad you told me about your history with rehab.”  

“It was nothing,” Stacie shrugs.  

“Yeah, it was. I appreciate you sharing that with me.” Stacie shrugs again, looking away and Aubrey can tell that her walls are up again and that the topic isn’t open for discussion anymore so in an effort to lighten the mood, she forces a grin onto her face and says, “Do you want me to introduce you to Evan?”  

“We should probably eat something soon,” Stacie says, looking away as she pointedly ignores Aubrey’s teasing voice.  

“So, no?”  

Stacie uncrosses her arms, is quiet for a long time before she finally says, “I’ll let you know,” and she tries to drown out Aubrey’s loud laugh as she reaches for her phone to get them dinner.  

 

* * *

 

While they’re in New York for the last batch of press interviews, they get suites next to each other and most of the time, the connecting doors between their rooms are open. Aubrey steps through the open doors, looking down at her phone as she starts asking a question but Stacie quickly shushes her.  

Aubrey looks up from her phone, frowns when she sees that Stacie’s on the couch and the way the furniture is arranged she can only see the back of Stacie’s head so she walks around the couch, softens completely at the sight of Ashley fast sleep with head in Stacie’s lap.  

“She only just fell asleep,” Stacie whispers as way of explanation, her fingers softly rubbing Ashley’s scalp.  

“You encourage sleeping on the job?” Aubrey teases, but it’s harmless and light as she watches Ashley with a tender smile, perching on the coffee table opposite Stacie.  

“She’s so bad with timezones and her sleeping patterns are concerning even without adding the travel to it,” Stacie explains. “I had to trick her to even get her to lay down on the couch.”  

“Not that I don’t believe in your convincing abilities,” Aubrey starts and Stacie shoots her a droll look. “But how’d you manage that?”  

“I told her I wanted to talk about my romantic feelings for you,” Stacie says softly, not a trace of humour in her tone and Aubrey’s eyes snap to hers but Stacie’s just looking down at Ashley. “She likes being comfortable when we DMC.”  

“DMC?” Aubrey asks, even though her brain is still reeling at Stacie’s straightforward confession, trying to figure out whether Stacie had said it to trick Ashley into a talk or whether it was the truth.  

“Deep meaningful conversation,” Stacie says, looking up and finally meeting Aubrey’s eyes, smiling sincerely.  

Aubrey’s at a loss for words and Stacie knows it, enjoying the way Aubrey’s trying to grasp at any thread of conversation and not giving into her.  

“I was worried about her because she looked so tired so I want to let her sleep as long as possible,” Stacie finally says, breaking their long silence and looking away from Aubrey to smile down at Ashley. “She’s gonna hate me when she wakes up but at least she’ll be well-rested.”  

“Won’t it disrupt her sleeping pattern even more?” Aubrey asks, letting Stacie get away with moving them past her plainly declared words.  

“She barely has a sleeping pattern anyway so I’m just happy she’s sleeping,” Stacie says, soothingly carding her fingers through Ashley’s hair.  

“You really care about her,” Aubrey whispers, wondering how she hadn’t noticed it before.  

“She takes care of me and I take care of her. That’s the deal,” Stacie whispers back and Aubrey tries to filter through every interaction she’s seen between Stacie and Ashley, applying this new knowledge to them like a lens and she realises that it’s always been clear from the start.  

She hadn’t thought much about it because of her own close-knit relationship with Jessica but she can see now how unique Ashley and Stacie’s bond is.  

“When did you two meet?” Aubrey asks.  

“Right before I went to rehab. She was a bartender at a party I went to and I was crying into my champagne on the bathroom floor when she found me. I don’t even remember what I was crying about but she sat next to me and we talked for a really long time. She had to go back to work so she threw some water in my face to sober me up and left.”  

Stacie chuckles at the memory, freezing when Ashley groans softly in her sleep at being jolted.  

“I tracked her down after I got myself sorted out,” Stacie says. “My PA before that was kinda trash, she let me get away with too much so I hunted Ashley down and offered her the job.”  

Aubrey can sense that there’s more to the story so she stays quiet, waits it out.  

“Most days I don’t actually like myself all that much,” Stacie says in a hushed voice. “But Ash believes in me so much that I kind of owe it to her to keep being great. Because I promised her I would; it was her one demand before she took the job. She’d be so disappointed in me if I stopped trying to be the best version of me I can be.”  

“Why don’t you like yourself?” Aubrey murmurs but Stacie just shrugs. “Stacie…”  

“Just a lot of stuff,” Stacie says, avoiding Aubrey’s eyes, focused intently on running her fingers through Ashley’s hair. “Don’t worry about it.”  

“Too late,” Aubrey says and Stacie shoots her a grateful smile.  

“If I wasn’t so scared of Jessica, I’d have a stern talk with her about breaking Ashley’s heart,” Stacie says, trying for a lighter tone.  

“Jess is harmless.”  

“That’s not true at all,” Stacie protests and Aubrey laughs softly.  

“Yes, it is. She’s the nicest person I know and my best friend is Chloe Beale.”  

“You surround yourself with nice people so that it can try to rub off on you?” Stacie taunts and Aubrey rolls her eyes in exasperation, lets her get away with it because she’s very quickly learning that Stacie doesn’t like being vulnerable and deflects her emotions with insults.  

“They gravitate towards me, what can I say?” Aubrey flirts, shoulders curling forwards as she lifts her hands and shrugs. “But seriously, Ashley’s in good hands with Jessica. She only ever has good intentions.”  

“I’m very protective of Ashley,” Stacie says lowly.  

“And I’m very protective of Jessica,” Aubrey responds, crossing her arms but smiling.  

They stare each other down for a long time, but Stacie breaks first.  

“Did she tell you that they’re going on a date?” Stacie whispers, leaning over Ashley towards Aubrey instinctively.  

“She told me that Ashley asked her out, I didn’t know they planned something,” Aubrey gushes.  

“They were gonna try to do it while we were in LA but it didn’t work out so they’re trying to plan something while we’re here.”  

“I don’t know any of this, any time I ask Jess about it she blushes and starts stuttering and I can never understand a word she’s saying.”  

“I only know because I threatened to tickle it out of Ashley if she didn’t tell me.”  

“And that worked?”  

“Surprisingly well.”  

“Hm,” Aubrey says then, leaning back as Stacie settles back against the couch with a nod.  

 

* * *

 

“Let’s go out,” Stacie says, bursting into Aubrey’s room and frowning when she finds Aubrey lounging in a pair of pyjamas, hair up in a bun and her face completely devoid of makeup.  

“No thanks,” Aubrey says, ignoring her and not even glancing up from her book.  

“What is wrong with you?” Stacie says, moving closer and crawling onto the bed to face Aubrey. “It’s Friday night.”  

“What would we even go do?” Aubrey says, sighing as she bookmarks and sets down her book and Stacie is clearly buoyed by the action because it’s not an outright no.  

“The same thing we always do, dinner and a movie,” Stacie says, immediately knows she’s gone the wrong way when Aubrey’s shoulders tense up and her fingers tighten on the spine of the book.  

“No.”  

“It doesn’t have to be that. We can go out and do something else.”  

“I don’t feel like being followed around today, I’m tired,” Aubrey says, voice verging on the side of whining and Stacie understands where she’s gone wrong and what Aubrey’s objections are.  

“Aubrey, will you hang out with me outside and in secret?” Stacie says with a grin and Aubrey narrows her eyes.  

“Those two things are oxymorons,” she says but again, she’s not outright refusing Stacie.  

“What is?”  

“Outside and secret.”  

“This is New York City, not LA. We can go out incognito, I promise,” Stacie says. “C’mon, it’ll be fun.”  

“I already took off my makeup,” Aubrey says softly but there’s no fight in her words and Stacie knows she’s arguing just for the sake of it at this point.  

“I will do your makeup for you.”  

“You really want to go out that much?”  

“Yes. There’s a thing I want to go to and I don’t wanna go alone,” Stacie says, climbing over Aubrey’s legs to get off the bed on her side and tugging Aubrey up with her. “Come on, sunshine.”  

“Fine,” Aubrey relents, let’s herself be pulled into the bathroom.  

“Yes!” Stacie says triumphantly as she pushes Aubrey’s hips against the bathroom counter. “Sit,” she instructs before looking around. “Where’s your makeup?”  

Aubrey points to a cabinet as she hops onto the counter and Stacie starts unpacking her makeup.  

They go through it with only minimal bickering — “Stacie, if you give me drag queen eyes I’m going to kill you”; “Aubrey, why the fuck do you own so many shades of lipstick when you always wear the same one?” — and afterwards Aubrey reluctantly admits that Stacie’s done a good job.  

“You look so hot,” Stacie compliments. “You know what would complete the look?”  

“What?” Aubrey asks warily.  

“If you let me dress you.”  

“I feel like a living Barbie doll,” Aubrey says but then she nods and Stacie smiles widely.  

Aubrey finds herself standing in front of her mirror ten minutes later, staring at herself while she waits for Stacie to get dressed and she once again has to admit that she doesn’t look terrible. Stacie’s put her in tights, a mini skirt and a turtleneck and instructed her to wear thigh high boots and it’s absolutely not an ensemble Aubrey would have picked for herself but it’s comfortable and she knows she won’t stand out in it.  

In an effort to play along and blend in even more, she rifles through her luggage for her flat iron and plugs it in, parts her hair in the middle and starts working the flat iron through her hair.  

“Hey, you should probably wear a hat or—” Stacie stops cold at the sight of Aubrey’s usually wavy hair straightened out, voice catching loudly in her throat as she takes in the sight.  

Aubrey doesn’t even notice because she’s too busy checking out Stacie, who’s wearing a pair of very tight dark wash jeans with a collared shirt tucked into it, sleeves rolled up to her elbows.  

“You look nice,” Aubrey says, has to tear her gaze away from Stacie’s chest where the fabric slightly gapes between two buttons over her cleavage.  

“Your hair looks really pretty like that,” Stacie stutters out then and Aubrey remembers that she’s holding her flat iron and still has to do the back of her hair.  

She watches through the mirror as Stacie pulls on ankle boots, bending over to tuck the bottom of her jeans into the boots and Aubrey’s eyes automatically trail up from Stacie’s legs and linger on her butt, quickly shaking herself out of her dazed staring when Stacie straightens.  

“Do you have another coat?” Stacie calls out behind her as she walks back toward her own room to grab her coat.  

“None that the paparazzi haven’t seen,” Aubrey says loudly and she giggles when she can hear Stacie sigh in exasperation all the way from her own suite.  

“Okay,” Stacie says, returning just as Aubrey’s done with her hair. “Beanie, scarf, winter coat,” Stacie says, tossing the aforementioned items on Aubrey’s bed.  

“Thank you,” Aubrey says, smiling as she picks up the scarf and starts wrapping it around her neck before shrugging into the parka. “This is so warm,” she says with a satisfied groan.  

“Thank Ashley, it’s hers.”  

“She won’t mind?”  

“She’s not here, is she?” Stacie says and Aubrey shakes her head with an admonishing look as Stacie grins and shrugs into her own peacoat before wrapping a scarf around her neck. “C’mere,” Stacie urges, reaching for the beanie she’d tossed on the bed and Aubrey steps closer, lets Stacie slide her hand under her coat to sweep her hair out from it before pulling the beanie over her head.  

“You look adorable,” Stacie whispers, smiling when she sees Aubrey’s eyes dart down to her lips.  

She’s wearing flat chelsea boots and Aubrey’s boots have a small heel to them so for once they’re the same height and Stacie can’t help but feel a small thrill of excitement at that.  

“You’re not wearing a hat?” Aubrey asks, voice throaty and low and now it’s Stacie’s turn to look at her lips.  

“Yeah,” Stacie croaks out, produces a beanie from her pocket and pulls it onto her head. “You ready to go?”  

Aubrey nods, stepping away from Stacie as she reaches for her small bag and slings it across her body before letting Stacie lead them out of the hotel.  

 

* * *

 

“Hi there,” Stacie says in a pitch much higher than her own that has Aubrey immediately suspicious. “I’d like two tickets to the special viewing of Tipping the Scales please.”  

“Stacie,” Aubrey hisses under her breath but Stacie ignores her as she pays for the tickets and thanks the guy behind the counter as he instructs them where to go.  

“What?” Stacie asks innocently, even though she knows exactly what Aubrey’s worried about.  

“We are literally the stars of this movie,” Aubrey says, leaning in to say the words in a hushed tone. “Someone is going to recognise us.”  

“We’ll sit in the back and leave just as the credits start,” Stacie says. “It’ll make for a great story.”  

“This is never going to work.”  

“Do you even remember the movie? Because we saw it in, like, October and I haven’t seen it since so it would be nice to have a refresher before we do our US press interviews.”  

“You’re insane,” Aubrey grumbles. “We could have just asked the studio for a copy.”  

“But this is way more fun. When is the last time you saw a movie in a cinema?”  

“Two weeks ago. I saw The Greatest Showman with Jessica.”  

“Ooh, how was it?” Stacie asks excitedly.  

“It was so good! The songs really stick with you and it had a pretty nice message,” Aubrey can’t help but gush. “You should really see it.”  

“Next date night,” Stacie says and it reminds Aubrey of their current argument.  

“We could have watched it now!” Aubrey says and Stacie quickly shushes her so she drops her volume and adds, “Instead of being self-indulgent.”  

“This is a special event, okay?” Stacie finally admits as they make their way to the room where the movie’s being shown. “SAGE is organising a viewing for LGBT refugees. They’ve booked out like half the cinema for it.”  

“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” Aubrey presses, stopping Stacie with the hand she has curled around Stacie’s arm, looking both ways before urging Stacie to the side of the corridor so they can have a private moment.  

“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” Stacie says with a shrug but she’s avoiding Aubrey’s eyes and it gives her away.  

“If you’d told me earlier I would have come with a lot less protest,” Aubrey says with a coy smile.  

“Where’s the fun in that?” Stacie flirts, looking at Aubrey with a soft smile.  

“Next time, just tell me, okay care bear?” Aubrey urges, using what is now quickly becoming her favourite term of endearment to show Stacie she means it and Stacie nods in understanding.  

 

* * *

 

“How is it that you don’t know New York that well?” Stacie asks when they’re sitting across from each other having dinner.  

Aubrey’s twiddling her chopsticks as she frowns at the question, not sure what Stacie’s trying to ask. “What do you mean?”  

“You did Broadway for a year, right?” she asks and Aubrey nods in confirmation. “Plus you went to Juilliard, but you don’t seem to know the city like an insider even though you lived here.”  

Aubrey mulls over the words and as she’s trying to come up with a suitable answer, Stacie takes a bite and snaps her out of her thoughts.  

“You eat like a toddler, oh my god,” Aubrey says in exasperation, tossing a tissue at Stacie, who’s dropped rice all over her shirt.  

“Oh, damn,” she says, picking up the rice grains one by one and popping them into her mouth, even going so far as to dig into her bra for a lost grain of rice.  

Aubrey follows the movement closely, not noticing that her eyes linger on Stacie’s cleavage as she goes back to thinking about Stacie’s question.  

“Bree?” Stacie says, and her voice carries enough amusement to cause a blush on Aubrey’s cheeks when she realises she’s been caught staring.  

“Juilliard was like bootcamp, I barely saw the city outside of theatres and school and I was doing so many projects on the side that whenever I wasn’t busy with school I was back in LA working. Then I did Les Mis and that took up all my time, plus—”  

Stacie pauses with a piece of chicken halfway to her mouth when Aubrey stops abruptly.  

“Plus?” Stacie prods carefully, grumbles when she drops her chicken and gives up on the chopsticks, setting them down on the table.  

“When I wasn’t performing or rehearsing, I was with Sophia. We didn’t go out much, we were so wrapped up in each other. When we split up I went back to LA and never really came back.”  

“Why’d you split up?” Stacie asks, keeps her voice light and curious, trying to convey that Aubrey doesn’t have to answer if she doesn’t want to.  

Aubrey laughs when Stacie gives up and finally reaches for a fork because she had basically goaded Stacie into using chopsticks when they’d first sat down at the restaurant.  

“I think she resented me for being busy all the time,” Aubrey says.  

“But that’s part of the job,” Stacie interjects.  

“You know that, _she_  didn’t.”  

“Huh,” Stacie says.  

“Plus it probably doesn’t help that I was too scared to come out,” Aubrey adds in a small voice, taking a bite out of a dumpling.  

“Rightfully so,” Stacie protests immediately. “Look at how your family reacted.”  

Aubrey shrugs, still chewing her food and Stacie eats a piece of chicken.  

“I’m okay with not being familiar in the city, I have you,” Aubrey says then with a smile and at first Stacie thinks she’s mocking her but Aubrey’s eyes are twinkling and her smile is sincere so Stacie melts.  

“Yeah you do,” Stacie preens. “And I’m a New York girl through and through.”  

Aubrey laughs at Stacie’s pride.  

“Also, didn’t I tell you we’d have a relaxed date? Nobody recognised us, even in a movie theatre where our faces were literally on the screen for two hours,” Stacie says. “I know my city.”  

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this,” Aubrey starts and Stacie puts down her fork in anticipation, leaning in with wide eyes and Aubrey chuckles softly. “You were right.”  

“I can die a fulfilled woman now,” Stacie teases with a loud exhale, leaning back in her chair. 

“But we haven’t even had sex yet,” Aubrey can’t help but quip.  

“We’ve had pretend sex for our movie,” Stacie says with a shrug.  

“Don’t forget the sex dream you had about me,” Aubrey supplies.  

“Oh yeah, that was kinky,” Stacie says, staring off into the distance.  

Aubrey watches her with incredulity, sees as Stacie’s eyes glaze over as she seems to relive the dream. She snaps her fingers in front of Stacie’s eyes a few times before the brunette snaps out of her daze, looks at Aubrey and her eyes are darker as she regards the blonde.  

“Sorry, what were we talking about?”  

“You being a New York girl.”  

“Oh, right, yes,” Stacie says, clearing her throat. “Nobody cares about you in New York. I know that for a fact.”  

“What?” Aubrey asks, not liking the desolate implication undercutting Stacie’s joking words.  

“What?”  

“Why would you say that nobody in New York cares about you?”  

Aubrey’s gotten right to the heart of the issue and it quite honestly surprises Stacie a little bit and she tries to deflect by saying, “Oh, just the general you not me specifically,” but Aubrey’s pinning her down with narrowed eyes and a disbelieving look.  

“That’s not what that sounded like,” she comments.  

“I’ll tell you about it some other time, okay? I don’t want to ruin our date,” Stacie says in a pleading voice and Aubrey softens.  

“Does it have anything to do with the you not liking yourself thing?” she inquires carefully and Stacie tilts her head, brow furrowing because she hadn’t thought Aubrey cared that much to remember that or even try to connect the dots.  

“Some of it but not all,” she confesses, because if Aubrey’s making the effort to be Stacie’s friend, Stacie wants to make it clear that she’s willing to talk about it, just, “I want to tell you but not tonight.”  

“Okay,” Aubrey says slowly, hand twitching and Stacie’s eyes drop to it, sees as Aubrey turns her hand over, palm up and fingers spread out like an invite that Stacie takes by sliding her fingers over Aubrey’s hand and settling her hand there.  

“I like talking to you and spending time with you,” Stacie says softly, staring at their hands as Aubrey trails her eyes up to look at Stacie’s face.  

“I like spending time with you too,” Aubrey replies quietly, almost like she’s confessing a secret but it’s loud enough for Stacie to hear and loud enough to elicit a genuine smile from the brunette.  

 

* * *

 

“Do you mind if we swing by Stacie’s room real quick? She texted that she was going out and I just want to see if she’s already back,” Ashley explains in a jumble of words and Jessica just smiles softly, trailing her fingers up and down Ashley’s arm soothingly.  

“Of course I don’t mind,” she answers, curling her fingers around Ashley’s upper arm and leaning closer as they walk down the corridor.  

Ashley uses her free hand to reach into her coat pocket for the room keycard and Jessica reluctantly lets her go, turning to lean her back against the wall next to the door as Ashley goes inside.  

“Do you want to check up on Aubrey?” Ashley whispers and there’s a playful tone to her voice that has Jessica smiling before she even knows what the reason for it is.  

“She told me she was staying in so not really,” Jessica answer and she hears a soft snort from inside the room.  

“I don’t think so,” Ashley says then, poking her head around the doorway and gesturing Jessica inside.  

The blonde is intrigued, about to open her mouth to ask why she needs to go inside to check up on Aubrey when she turns into the room and her mouth drops open in amusement and surprise at the sight that greets her.  

Ashley already has her phone out to take a picture and Jessica can’t help but follow suit, rifling through her bag for her own phone. 

Stacie is sprawled on her back, Aubrey wedged slightly between Stacie and the back of the couch but half of her torso draped across Stacie’s with her head tucked into the crook of the brunette’s neck.  

Stacie’s face is turned into Aubrey’s hair and she has a tight arm around Aubrey’s middle, their legs tangled but the most endearing thing is that they’re holding hands while fast asleep.  

“Who’d have thought, huh?” Ashley says with a large grin.  

“You,” Jessica says. “You predicted this, I almost can’t believe it.”  

“Let’s go before we accidentally wake them up,” Ashley says and Jessica turns to her with a quirked mouth.  

“I’m almost disappointed we won’t be here when they wake up,” she confesses and it makes Ashley’s smile widen as she offers up her arm for Jessica to take.  

“Here’s to hoping there’s a next time.” 

 

* * *

 

Stacie and Aubrey are sat next to each other at a long press conference table, with their director Sebastian next to Stacie and a few producers next to Aubrey while they field questions from reporters.  

Aubrey and Stacie are laughing at Sebastian stumbling his way through an answer explaining why he’s so good at directing female love scenes, Aubrey trying to cover her laughs with her hand while Stacie outright giggles at their director, Sebastian’s cheeks bright red.  

The room is in high spirits and they have a lovely energy going when a woman in the back raises her hand for a question.  

“Hi, Leah Smythe from Daily Entertainment, my question is for Ms. Conrad.”  

“Go ahead,” the moderator, Nathalie, says with a smile as Stacie turns to the reporter with an encouraging smile.  

“So for your next project, Voyage—”  

“Oh, I’m gonna have to cut you off on that,” Stacie interrupts with a mockingly rueful expression. “I’m only supposed to talk about Tipping the Scales right now or else I’ll get yelled at by our publicist,” Stacie adds teasingly, points to Gail who’s standing just to the side with Jessica and Ashley, who both work hard to suppress their laughs at Gail’s indignant squeak.  

A few people turn to follow Stacie’s finger and Stacie can hear Aubrey snigger next to her.  

A ripple of laughter goes through the crowd when Gail glares at Stacie but calls out, “Ask ahead!”  

“Well, lucky you today, Leah,” Nathalie says with a grin. “You can ask your question.”  

“Thank you,” the reporter says with a tight smile. “So we’ve heard about the script and the characters being played by you and your co-stars and my question is this. Will you be drawing from your history with substance abuse to make your character in Voyage more realistic?”  

The room goes deafeningly quiet, the reporter staring straight at Stacie after asking her question but Aubrey’s the first one to react as Stacie reels back in shock.  

“What kind of bullshit question is that?” Aubrey snaps.  

“Aubrey,” Stacie whispers softly, carefully reaching out and touching her fingers to Aubrey’s thigh, supposedly as a warning but it feels more like she needs the anchor.  

“No, that’s a ridiculous question, what could possibly compel you to ask something moronic like that?” Aubrey says and the room is tense and Stacie just wants it to be over, wants to go back to the fun mood they’d been in before Leah Smythe stood up and asked her question.  

“Aubrey…” she mumbles desperately and Aubrey finally looks away from the reporter, takes in Stacie’s wild expression.  

“It’s a perfectly reasonable question, and one that I feel merits an answer given Ms. Conrad’s history. Or are we forbidden from talking about your pasts?”  

Nathalie steps in, tries to defuse the situation but now Aubrey’s pissed off and ready to snap, but Stacie’s fingers are digging into her thigh insistently.  

“This press conference is over,” Sebastian says strongly then, interrupts Nathalie and Aubrey is immensely grateful to Sebastian as she gets up, takes Stacie’s hand and pulls her out of the room.  

“Are you okay?” Aubrey asks once they’re safely back in her hotel room.  

“Yeah, I am,” Stacie says, meaning it. “It was just unexpected.”  

Aubrey doesn’t look like she quite believes her but Stacie just shoots her a smile.  

“You really went off in there,” she can’t help but tease and Aubrey purses her lips as she steps away, lets go of Stacie’s hands to cross her arms and Stacie can see that now that Aubrey’s established that Stacie’s okay, her concern makes way for pure white anger.  

“It was a ridiculous fucking question,” Aubrey says, her rage building quickly.  

“Aubrey…” Stacie says, trying to calm her down but it doesn’t seem to be working.  

“No, look, I’m sorry I snapped and cursed at her and I know I should have let you handle it yourself—”  

“Aubrey.”  

“—but I’m so fucking angry at her for even having the gall to ask that in the first place! And then to—”  

“ _Aubrey._ ”  

“—to act all high and mighty as if us being in the spotlight means she has a right to ask something so incredibly intrusive—”  

“Aubrey!”  

“—I’m definitely calling her editor because this is ridiculous, I want her access to our studio and press events revoked—”  

Aubrey is mid-sentence when she finds herself suddenly shoved up against the wall, one of Stacie’s hands pressing her hips back against the wall while the other hand slides around to cup Aubrey’s neck and tilt her head up.  

“Will you fucking shut up for one minute?” Stacie growls and Aubrey’s eyes widen with surprise at the low tone.  

Aubrey nods silently, swallows thickly.  

“Thank you for standing up for me,” Stacie says sincerely. “I’m going to kiss you now.”  

Aubrey nods again, opens her mouth to say something but then Stacie’s lips are on hers and she’s having the breath kissed out of her, gasps into Stacie’s mouth and she’s not sure if it’s because of surprise or relief but Stacie grins and takes the opportunity to deepen the kiss, slides her tongue into Aubrey’s mouth and it finally snaps Aubrey out of her anger and shock.  

Her hands fly out to grab at Stacie and pull her closer, wrapping her arms around the brunette’s back tightly while tilting her own head to give Stacie better access to her mouth.  

Aubrey whimpers softly when Stacie tightens her fingers in Aubrey’s hair and tugs on her lower lip.  

Stacie’s lungs are burning but when she pulls away to breathe, Aubrey chases her, doesn’t let her get far before kissing her back just as fervently, tongue insistent and it’s Stacie’s turn to gasp into the kiss, the sharp sting of Aubrey’s nails digging into her hips a welcome distraction from the fire in her chest.  

“Aubrey,” Stacie tries to interject when her vision starts going spotty but Aubrey just shushes her and kisses her more intently.  

They don’t hear the knock or the soft beep of a keycard but then the door to the room opens and Ashley walks in, saying, “Hey Stacie, Colin wants to—oh shit!” as she stops in her tracks, eyes wide at the sight of them and Aubrey and Stacie spring apart.  

Stacie’s upset they’ve been interrupted but she’s a little grateful for the opportunity to catch her breath, and when she glances at Aubrey, she sees the blonde’s cheeks flushed bright red and chest heaving as she tries to control her own breathlessness.  

“I’ll come back later,” Ashley says quickly before turning on her heel and disappearing again, but the damage is already done as Aubrey bites her lip, glances at Stacie out of the corner of her eye.  

“So, turns out it’s really nice to not be the one being yelled at by you for a change,” Stacie says and it breaks the tension as Aubrey laughs sharply, shoots Stacie a look of fond exasperation.  

“You’re incorrigible,” Aubrey says, leans back against the wall as she watches Stacie closely.  

“And you like me,” Stacie says, turning to Aubrey with one side of her mouth twisted playfully.  

“I like kissing you. Plus you’re the one who kissed me,” Aubrey says lowly but it doesn’t exactly refute the statement. 

“Because you got all cute and angry and offended on my behalf,” Stacie says, stepping closer and forcing Aubrey to look up at her.  

“I would have reacted the same for any of my other co-stars,” Aubrey says but they both know that’s not true.  

Stacie hums in disbelief, smiles when she sees Aubrey’s already red cheeks flush even darker. “You were talking about revoking press credentials,” Stacie teases, trailing her fingers down Aubrey’s arm.  

“Shut up,” Aubrey breathes.  

“Make me,” Stacie challenges and Aubrey grins, gaze dropping to Stacie’s lips. Stacie holds her breath in anticipation, waiting to see what Aubrey is going to do.  

Aubrey sways forwards, softly presses her hand against Stacie’s stomach to keep her balance as she stands on her toes to be at eye-level with Stacie but just as she leans in, Jessica comes barging into the room.  

“Bree, Colin says that—oh, crap!”  

“Fuck,” Stacie whines softly as Aubrey shoves her away and turns to Jessica.  

“What’s that?” Aubrey says, has to clear her throat. 

“It can wait,” Jessica tries to say, already backing away with a soft shake of the head.  

“No, it’s fine,” Aubrey says, the exact same moment that Stacie says, “Good,” and then Stacie is turning to her with a strangled sound of protest. “What did Colin say?”  

“Seriously?” Stacie whispers, sounding a little petulant but Aubrey reaches out to shush her, not taking her eyes off Jessica who hesitates, glances awkwardly between the two.  

Aubrey can see the twinkle of mischief in Jessica’s eyes and she shakes her head almost imperceptibly, urging Jessica not to ask just yet so the woman smiles and lets it go for now.  

“He wants to talk to you about the press conference and try to convince you to finish it,” Jessica says with a grimace. “They talked to the moderator and the woman from Daily Entertainment has been asked to leave.”  

Stacie sighs deeply and Aubrey turns to her with a concerned look.  

“We should go deal with that,” Stacie says, voice conveying just how much she doesn’t want to do that but Aubrey nods in agreement.  

Jessica hovers by the door, turned away from them to give them some privacy.  

Aubrey and Stacie are having an unspoken staring match but then Aubrey looks away, holds out her hand as a temporary truce and Stacie’s expression softens as she looks down at the hand, reaching out and taking it, tangling their fingers like they’ve done countless times before as she lets Aubrey take the lead.  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> your comments give me life <3


	3. Partners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we fuckin go

_**Trouble in paradise? Stacie Conrad and Aubrey Posen struggling to keep passion ‘alive’** _

They seemed like Hollywood’s happiest couple, but Stacie Conrad and Aubrey Posen have allegedly hit rocky ground. The movie stars — who both boast impressive resumes — have had us entranced since going public with their relationship back in November and appeared to be one of our favourite and most gorgeous  _Couples To Watch_.

But Star Daily reports that the couple are already having to put “much more effort into their relationship” these days. Everything appeared to be going swell for the lovebirds, but they are said to have encountered a number of setbacks in recent weeks.

Conrad, 28, is currently entering production for the new X-Men movie directed by Simon Kinberg while also preparing to start filming a still-untitled movie helmed by Kathryn Bigelow, while Posen is wearing her producer hat for the upcoming film Conquest, written and directed by industry newcomer Florencia Fuentes.

The strenuous workload has left the couple at loggerheads and desperately trying to squeeze date nights in to save the romantic sparks, and the couple haven’t been spotted together since the Critics’ Choice Awards.

A source told the magazine: “Stacie is at the top of her game. Her career is red hot and she’s winning all these awards and Aubrey’s happy for her but they miss each other and it definitely can’t be easy to be apart all the time and only come together for award shows.”

We can only hope these devastating rumours are not true, since the pair seem to share one of the most refreshingly passionate relationships in Hollywood.

_**___**-**__ Life & Style Magazine_** _, February 2018_ _

 

* * *

 

“Hey, can we talk?” Stacie whispers after they finish the resumed press conference, following Aubrey off the stage and trailing her fingers down Aubrey’s upper arm softly to get her attention.  

She’s not quiet enough because Jessica hands Aubrey a bottle of water and turns to Stacie, says, “No, you can’t.”  

“What?” Stacie says, had thought that Jessica’s disdain for her had lessened considerably since she stopped being insufferable but then she feels a little relieved when Aubrey also turns to Jessica with surprise, brows furrowed.  

“We needed to be at Garvey Schubert Barer ten minutes ago and after that you’re meeting Hylda to go to IFC and Picturehouse and at some point today we need to swing by TSG,” Jessica rattles off, looking at her phone while she says the words.  

“What about dinner?” Aubrey asks.

“You can’t do dinner,” Ashley interrupts and Stacie hadn’t even noticed her approach them, “You’re sitting down with the new X-Men director,” Ashley explains and Stacie finally turns away from Aubrey to frown at Ashley.  

“That’s today? I thought that was on hold until next month?”  

Ashley shakes her head with a grimace. “It was but there’s a scheduling conflict so they’re suddenly pushing everything forward and since you’re in town anyway…”   

“So when can we hang out?” Aubrey asks, trying to get them back to the point, very aware that she’s already behind schedule for the day but wanting to settle this before their calendars fill up even more.

“You have press junkets tomorrow together?” Ashley tries to say but Aubrey and Stacie are already shaking their heads and Stacie’s grateful that at least they’re on the same page. 

“Privately,” Aubrey says, just to make it clear and Jessica and Ashley turn to each other and start haggling times and dates.  

Stacie takes the opportunity to turn to Aubrey with a deep sigh, looking down at their hands after Aubrey tangles their fingers and softly squeezes Stacie’s hand.  

“We’re okay, right?” Stacie whispers in the space between them and Aubrey smiles softly, nods as she holds Stacie’s gaze evenly.

“Of course,” she says, warmed by Stacie’s completely unnecessary concern.  

“Friday afternoon,” Jessica finally declares, interrupting their moment while Ashley sharply nods in agreement. 

“That’s three days away,” Stacie whines, softening slightly when Aubrey squeezes her hand in warning.  

“We’re not on vacation,” Ashley says matter-of-factly and Jessica giggles instinctively, covering her laugh with a terrible pretend-cough as Aubrey turns to her in surprise.  

“All afternoon?” Aubrey asks, looking between Ashley and Jessica.  

“You have the amfAR gala together that night so until glam time,” Ashley says, smiles when Aubrey shoots her a grateful look.  

“Okay,” Aubrey says with a resolute nod and Jessica smiles as she types it into her phone, blocking out the time in Aubrey’s calendar as Ashley starts doing the same.  

“I guess I’ll see you Friday,” Stacie says almost petulantly when she turns to Aubrey, not missing Jessica pointedly looking at her watch.

“Text me,” Aubrey instructs, reluctant to let go of Stacie’s hand.  

“Of course,” Stacie says with a wink and they finally step away from each other, Jessica already a few steps ahead. “Bye.”  

“Hey,” Aubrey calls out when Stacie turns away, her voice a little indignant and Stacie turns back with a confused frown. “Kiss,” she says in an admonishing tone.  

“What?” Stacie asks in total bewilderment because Aubrey’s urging her closer with a small smile but her eyes are hard again.  

“We’re in a room full of press and you’re not going to kiss your girlfriend goodbye?” Aubrey mutters lowly and Stacie finally catches on.  

“Bye,” Stacie says, wide grin taking over her face as she steps closer and leans in.  

“That’s more like it,” Aubrey teases and Stacie shakes her head in exasperation before kissing Aubrey.  

Aubrey’s expecting a small peck, so when Stacie slides a hand around her waist and presses it against the small of her back to haul her close and goes in for a real kiss, she’s taken by surprise, melts against Stacie as she kisses her back.  

“We don’t have time to fix Stacie’s hair!” Ashley interrupts loudly, just as Aubrey’s sliding her hand up the back of Stacie’s neck.  

Stacie growls against Aubrey’s lips before pulling away and glaring at Ashley.  

“The lawyers already texted to ask if we’re on our way,” Jessica adds with an apologetic look and Aubrey sighs as she turns away from Stacie, slowly sliding her hand away from Stacie’s skin.  

“Bye,” Aubrey says and Stacie feels a thrill go down her spine at the hoarse tone.  

“Bye,” Stacie says, lets Aubrey step out of her embrace and follow Jessica out of the room before turning to Ashley with a glare and saying, “I hate you so much right now.”  

 

* * *

 

“Sorry I’m late,” Aubrey says, breezing into Stacie’s room through the open connecting doors between their suites.  

Stacie looks up from her phone just in time to see Aubrey drop heavily onto the couch next to her, shoots Aubrey a sympathetic look as the blonde lets out a tired groan.  

“That bad?”  

“Had a meeting with my lawyers today.” 

“I thought you already met with them on Tuesday?”

“I did,” Aubrey says, lifting her head to give Stacie a pointed look and Stacie nods, understanding.  

“Gimme your feet,” she says but it’s not what Aubrey’s expecting at all, brows furrowing.  

“Is this where you tell me you have a weird foot fetish?” Aubrey says and Stacie rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

“No, and I don’t.”  

Aubrey looks at her with suspicion, but she still scoots away from Stacie to lean back against the opposite armrest and lift her feet up onto Stacie’s lap.  

Stacie wraps her fingers around one of Aubrey’s ankles, uses her other hand to tug off Aubrey’s high heeled shoe, repeating it with the other foot when Aubrey’s head drops back against the couch with a loud moan.  

“Do you want to change into something more comfortable?” Stacie asks, taking in Aubrey’s tight jeans and blouse as she presses her thumb into the arch of Aubrey’s left foot.  

“No,” Aubrey says with a strangled voice, eyes closed as Stacie continues to massage in a firm line up to the ball of her foot and back down to her arch. “I’m good.”  

Stacie watches her face with a smug smile, dropping Aubrey’s left foot back onto her lap and Aubrey whines softly in complaint, the sound stuttering into a guttural groan when Stacie massages her right foot.

“Good?”  

“Mhm-hmm,” Aubrey says around a moan. “Your fingers are amazing.”  

“Just wait til you see what my mouth can do,” Stacie flirts, before she has a chance to think about it and her eyes slide closed with embarrassment when Aubrey’s nose crinkles and she opens her eyes slowly to shoot Stacie a quizzical look.  

“I thought you said you don’t have a foot fetish?” Aubrey teases, can’t help it as Stacie’s cheeks grow warm with shame but at her light tone, Stacie’s eyes snap open again and shoot her a glare.  

Stacie tickles the bottom of Aubrey’s foot, has a firm grip on Aubrey’s ankle so the blonde can’t squirm away as she giggles and tries to jerk back her foot.  

“Stacie!” she squeals, tries to use her other foot to kick at Stacie’s hands but failing miserably when Stacie tickles that foot as well. “Uncle! Uncle!”  

Stacie laughs as she lets Aubrey go and the woman immediately pulls her legs back, curling them under her body protectively.  

“Lunch?” Aubrey says but before Stacie can respond, there’s a knock on the door.  

“Come in!” Stacie calls out, frowns when Ashley pokes her head in. “You never wait to come in,” Stacie says, surprise heavily colouring her tone.  

“I wanted to make sure nobody was naked,” Ashley quips.  

“That’s never stopped you before,” Stacie sasses and when Ashley laughs, Stacie follows her gaze, finds Aubrey staring at her in bemusement. “Anyway,” Stacie says loudly when Aubrey arches an eyebrow. “What do you want?” 

“Bossy,” Aubrey mutters under her breath and Stacie flails out a hand in her direction because Ashley doesn’t even miss a beat.  

“It’s the twins. They’re being annoyingly persistent,” Ashley says.  

“About what?” Stacie asks.  

“Allie said she’s only being courteous by calling me and not you and then Andy threatened to call you anyway,” Ashley says with a sigh and soft shake of the head.  

“What do they want?”  

“Call them and find out,” Ashley says, turning back to the door.  

“Did Allie really say courteous?” Stacie asks quickly before she leaves.  

“Yeah I teased her about it and she said it’s her SAT word of the week,” Ashley says and they share a laugh. 

“Thanks Ash!” Stacie calls out and Ashley just waves her hand in goodbye before disappearing around the door and closing it behind her. “Sorry,” Stacie says quickly, looking back at Aubrey as she reaches for her phone again and scrolls through her contacts.  

“Family’s important,” Aubrey says with a soft smile, dismissing Stacie’s apology.  

“ _STACIE!_ ” Aubrey and Stacie both flinch at the volume when the twins pick up and Stacie almost tosses her phone away in reflex before she lifts it to her ear.  

“Hi guys,” Stacie says, barely getting a word in before the two start talking.  

_“Are you free?”_

_“We haven’t seen you in so long!”_

_“We got out of school early.”_

_“We wanna hang ouuut.”_

_“We can go get milkshakes like right now.”_

_“Please Stacie please.”_

_“You’re barely ever in New York anymore.”_

_“We miss you!”_

_“Also you missed Christmas so you owe us hangout time.”_

_“And we miss you.”_

_“You already said that, dummy.”_

_“Fine, jeez. Stacie come have milkshakes with us!”_

_“You have to eat lunch, right? Have lunch and milkshakes with us!”_

_“We won’t even bug you about Hollywood gossip.”_

_“Speak for yourself.”_

_“I’m trying to convince her to come!”_

_“I’ve been doing that the whole time, thanks for catching up.”_

_“Someone does the practical pleading and someone does the guilt trip, Allie, we both know that works the best way.”_

_“I don’t know why I never get to do the emotional guilt trip!_ ”  

“ _Because you always take it way too far!_ ”  

“ _I do not!_ ”  

“HEY!” Stacie yells into her phone, pinching the bridge of her nose as she growls under her breath. “Stop fighting.”  

“ _Sorry_ ,” the twins say in unison.

Stacie opens her eyes when she hears Aubrey stifle a laugh, and the blonde quickly covers her mouth and tries to hide her pure amusement when Stacie narrows her eyes at her.  

“I can’t come have milkshakes with you,” Stacie says softly and the two immediately burst out into complaints and questions. “Guys! Shh. I’m sorry we haven’t spent much time together lately, I’ve just been busy with work.”  

“ _Why can’t you come have lunch with us?_ ” Andy asks, voice pitiful and Stacie knows he’s exaggerating his voice, rolls her eyes.  

“ _Oh, that’s good_ ,” Allie whispers but Stacie catches it and silently mouths “Oh my god” to herself.  

“I’m having lunch with my girlfriend, who I haven’t seen in days plus I have a gala tonight,” Stacie says, looking up just in time to see Aubrey shaking her head fervently, as if to stop her from saying the words and Stacie frowns, not quite following, until the twins speak up again.  

“ _You haven’t seen us in_ weeks _!_ ” Andy argues and Aubrey gestures as she agrees with Andy.

“ _You can bring her to lunch. That way you’ll get to hang out with all of us_ ,” Allie argues.  

“Please hold,” Stacie says in a monotonous voice and just as sound erupts from the twins, she puts them on hold and finally lets out a loud, annoyed groan.  

“They miss you,” Aubrey says with an endearing smile on her face. “You should go hang out with them.”  

“I want to hang out with you,” Stacie says almost petulantly and Aubrey pouts, mocking her.  

“We can hang out when we’re back in LA,” Aubrey says and she’s right, but—

“I wanted to talk about the kissing,” Stacie says, pinning Aubrey down with a heated look.  

“We’ll talk about the kissing tonight. We can leave the gala early and get food,” Aubrey haggles.  

“Great plan,” Stacie says and Aubrey looks buoyed by the words. “But…”  

“But?”  

“I wanted to kiss you again  _before_ the gala,” Stacie flirts and Aubrey tries to suppress her smile, tries not to give in to the teasing nature of Stacie’s words but the corners of her mouth tug upwards as she shakes her head fondly.  

“You can kiss me before the gala,” Aubrey says coyly and when Stacie grins widely, she can’t help but have some fun the same way Stacie’d had with her. “If…”  

“If?”  

“If  _I_ can kiss  _you_ before the gala,” Aubrey offers and then Stacie’s smile is blinding, eyes twinkling as she nods happily.  

“Totally.”

“Good.”  

Aubrey shifts onto her knees then and Stacie watches with bated breath as she shuffles over, stopping when her legs bump Stacie’s and leaning over the brunette, hand on the back of the couch behind Stacie’s shoulder for balance.  

As soon as Aubrey’s lips touch hers, Stacie wraps an arm around Aubrey and pulls her closer, Aubrey’s body crashing into Stacie’s as she kisses her, shifts so she can comfortably settle against Stacie with a leg on either side. Aubrey pecks her lips a few times before deepening the kiss and Stacie sighs softly, granting her access, hand falling to Aubrey’s thigh while her other arm is still wrapped around the blonde, anchoring her in place.

Aubrey’s hands cup Stacie’s face, tilt her head backwards for a better angle as she ravages Stacie’s mouth, intent clear, gasping softly when Stacie’s fingers curl and dig into her thigh, trying to pull her closer but Aubrey has to break away to breathe, inhaling deeply as she turns her head away for a moment of reprieve, her heart beating a mile a minute in her chest.  

She can feel Stacie’s warm breath wash over her chest and Aubrey twitches in response, fingers tightening in Stacie’s hair.  

“They’re still on hold,” Aubrey manages, brain clearing slightly when she sees Stacie’s phone partially wedged between two couch cushions.  

“Oh shit,” Stacie says quickly, spurred into action and twisting her head to locate her phone. “You should put your shoes back on.”

“Why?” Aubrey asks, doesn’t move away from Stacie’s lap as Stacie grabs her phone and twists it the right way up.

“Okay,” Stacie says after taking the twins off hold and the cheers are immediate and loud. “We’ll meet you at Moonstruck in twenty minutes.”  

“ _Awesome!_ ” Andy says.  

“ _See you there!_ ” Allie adds before hanging up.  

“‘We’?” Aubrey asks, arching an eyebrow but her arms are still looped around Stacie’s neck so the brashness is a little dulled.  

“Yup,” Stacie says. “We scheduled hang out time today and I know how you are about sticking to plans.”

Aubrey rolls her eyes but before she can say anything, Stacie surges forward and kisses her quickly.  

“Honestly, Stacie, if you want to spend time with your brother and sister, it’s okay. I could use a nap anyway,” Aubrey says when they finally part, her conviction a little dulled by her swollen lips and dazed eyes.  

“I want to spend time with you,” Stacie says, pushing Aubrey’s hair away from where it’s curtained around their faces, cups her jaw as she softly strokes Aubrey’s cheek. “But you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”  

“No, I’d love to meet them,” Aubrey says immediately, doesn’t want Stacie to think that her objections have anything to do with not meeting Stacie’s siblings. “I just don’t want to intrude.”  

“You’re not. You heard them, you’re invited. I know they’d love to meet you,” Stacie says with a smile that makes Aubrey melt.  

“Yeah?”  

“Definitely,” Stacie confirms.

 

* * *

 

“Don’t get me wrong, I  _love_ playing dress up and going to fancy galas,” Stacie starts once they make it through the door that night.  

“But?”  

“But I hate that I can’t just magically be clean and showered and in my pyjamas,” Stacie adds.  

“I don’t know, I find it relaxing,” Aubrey says, understanding Stacie’s point but having gotten used to it after all the years. “Like I’m slowly going back to myself.”  

Stacie perches on the bed, watches as Aubrey takes off her earrings and necklace. Aubrey glances over her shoulder when Stacie doesn’t answer, smiles as her eyes meet Stacie’s. 

“I’ll probably get used to it eventually,” Stacie says with a shrug as she reaches down to unfasten the strap around her ankle and take off her heels.

Aubrey makes a small noise of agreement as she turns back to the dresser and reaches up to start pulling bobby pins out of her hair.  

Stacie rolls her ankles, cracking them and letting out a small, satisfied groan, standing up to join Aubrey at the dresser and start taking off her own jewelry.  

Stacie laughs when she sees Aubrey create a barricade of bobby pins between her jewelry and Stacie’s in an effort not to get them mixed up and she can’t help but be a little annoying, reaches out and nudges the wall, creating a dent in the straight line.  

“Hey!” Aubrey complains, reaching out to fix it before poking Stacie’s side as the brunette giggles.

“Can you unzip me?” Stacie asks, completely ignoring Aubrey’s glare as she turns her back to the blonde, smiles when Aubrey steps closer and finds the zipper on her strapless dress and carefully tugs it down.  

Stacie sighs deeply as the fabric loosens around her body, twisting back with a lazy grin. “Thanks.”  

“Food?” Aubrey says, reaching up and running her fingers through her hair, shaking her head to loosen the stands, trying not to stare as Stacie holds up her dress with one hand as she turns away to get their takeout, her back completely exposed by the unzipped dress.  

They’ve done this countless times together before since becoming friends, eating after events together and slowly peeling away the layer of glitz and glamour as they wind down, so Aubrey’s not sure why she’s suddenly so distracted by the intimate feeling of it.  

“You coming?” Stacie says, halfway to the living room when she glances back and finds Aubrey frozen in place, eyes darting away a second too late for Stacie to not notice what she’d been staring at.  

As she follows Stacie out of the room, she hesitates in the doorway, watches as Stacie unpacks their food and settles onto the couch and Aubrey thinks that maybe it’s been this way all along and she’d just never noticed it before, had thought that the small moments between them was just her trying to cling onto the part of Stacie that made it feel like she didn’t have to always pretend.  

“If you don’t get over here I’m going to start eating without you because I am starving,” Stacie says without even turning around, reaching for one of the takeout boxes. “And I’m gonna eat all the fried dumplings,” she mutters under her breath and that finally spurs Aubrey into action as she strides forwards and rips the box out of Stacie’s hands.  

“Don’t you dare,” she growls, holding the box of dumplings against her chest protectively as she sits down on the couch next to Stacie.  

“You’re not going to unzip your dress?” Stacie asks casually as she lets Aubrey keep the dumplings, reaches for the box with bak choy.  

Aubrey hums, shakes her head. “It’s a comfortable dress.”  

“Aubrey.” Stacie shoots her a disbelieving look as she stills. “Stop freaking out.”  

“I’m not freaking out,” Aubrey protests immediately even though she is freaking out a little bit.  

Stacie blinks at her, eyebrow arched pointedly and Aubrey’s in trouble because all she wants to do is lean in and kiss Stacie.  

“I’m not,” she repeats, looking away from Stacie’s inviting eyes, fingers smoothing across the fabric of her dress. “It’s just gonna be weird to sit here in my bra and ask you out.”  

Stacie smiles, tilts her head sideways affectionately as she watches a blush rise to Aubrey’s cheeks.  

“I am one wrong move away from my boobs popping out of this dress,” Stacie reminds her teasingly. “And I’ve seen you in your bra before.”  

“Yes, but that was before we…” Aubrey blushes fiercely as she looks up to find Stacie watching her closely, waiting for her to say the words so she growls under her breath.

“Before we made out in the car just now for twenty minutes?” Stacie provides unhelpfully in a teasing voice. “Made out on this couch before you met the twins? Oh, no, I know. Before we made out up against that wall,” Stacie adds cheekily, pointing to the wall where she’d pressed Aubrey and kissed her after their trainwreck of a press conference.  

“You’re insufferable,” Aubrey says, rolls her eyes but she does relax and it’s all Stacie wanted. “I can’t believe I like you.”  

“The sooner you ask me out, the sooner you can take off that dress,” Stacie says, shrugs once as she pops a vegetable in her mouth.  

“Will you go out on a date with me?”  

“I’d love to,” Stacie says, smiling softly when Aubrey’s eyes light up and she bites her lower lip.  

“Okay, unzip me,” Aubrey finally says and Stacie laughs loudly.  

 

* * *

 

“I need help,” Aubrey says as an opener as soon as Chloe picks up.  

“ _Who am I talking to?_ ” Chloe asks and Aubrey frowns, glances at the screen of her phone quickly to make sure she’s dialled the right number.  

“Chloe, it’s me,” she says.  

“ _Who?_ ”  

“Aubrey!”  

“ _I wasn’t sure it was you because you’re asking for help_ ,” Chloe says with a muffled laugh, implying she’s holding a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter and Aubrey grumbles softly in response, dropping her head back against the couch in frustration.  

“I’m serious, Chlo,” Aubrey says, and she knows she sounds a little whiny but she can’t help it. “I’m desperate here.”  

“ _What’s wrong?_ ”  

“Nothing’s wrong,” Aubrey says quickly. “I asked Stacie out.”  

“ _Okay?_ ”  

“That’s all you have to say?” Aubrey asks indignantly, had at least expected some sort of reaction from Chloe.  

“ _Yes_ ,” Chloe says and Aubrey can practically hear the cheeky smile on Chloe’s face.  

“On a date, I asked her out on a date.”  

“ _I figured as much_ ,” Chloe says with a chuckle. “ _What do you need help with?_ ”  

“You’re not even the least bit surprised I asked her out?”  

“ _I’m surprised you asked first, if I’m being really honest. I thought for sure she’d man up first_ ,” Chloe says seriously.  

“I— _what?_ ”  

“ _You don’t regret asking her out, are you? Is that why you’re asking for my help?_ ” Chloe asks, voice dropping with concern.  

“No!” Aubrey says immediately, briefly letting go of Chloe’s previous words to address this. “No, I don’t regret asking her out. I need date ideas.”  

“ _Hm…_ ” Chloe hums. “ _You set the bar pretty high with Disney World and New York dumplings, you know. You made this harder on yourself_.”  

“What are you—Chloe, this is our first date,” Aubrey says, frowning as she shakes her head in confusion, not having expected their conversation to take such constantly sharp turns.

“ _Is it really?_ ” Chloe asks, heavily suggesting otherwise, and that gives Aubrey pause.

“Yes,” Aubrey says but it comes out as more of a question.  

“ _Aubrey, I love you, but we can both admit that you may not have the best dating knowledge in the world._ ” 

“I love you too,” Aubrey says immediately, can’t help but say it back. “And what is that supposed to mean?”

“ _It means that you dated Luke because we were teenagers and he was a heartthrob with a British accent and everybody expected you to date each other even though you already knew you were so gay and you never dated Sophia, you went straight_ _to a relationship and it was kept super private and since then you haven’t dated anybody._ ”  

“So you see why I’m nervous,” Aubrey says, getting up from her couch to pace around it.  

“ _No_ ,” Chloe says and then Aubrey is really confused.  

“What?”  

“ _You’ve been hanging out alone with Stacie for how long now? How many times?_ ”  

“We’re friends,” Aubrey tries to defend but she’s starting to lose steam and she knows it.  

“ _Friends don’t make out in the back of cars, Bree_ ,” Chloe says, giggling sharply when Aubrey lets out a strangled sound of protest. “ _You like kissing her and you like spending time with her and I’m pretty sure you’ve been dating all along so I definitely don’t understand why you’re nervous_.”  

Aubrey’s quiet for a long while as she stares out her large windows at the beach, considers Chloe’s words and how sure Chloe sounds.  

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Aubrey asks in a small voice and Chloe laughs loudly at that.  

“ _All the books say I should let you get there on your own_ ,” Chloe admits.  

“I feel parented and I don't know if I like it,” Aubrey says and when Chloe laughs again she can’t help but pout.  

“ _Too bad, because I’m also going to give you some advice._ ”  

“Okay?”  

“ _Just go do whatever it is you would’ve done if this wasn’t a date._ ”  

“That’s it?” Aubrey asks, teeth worrying her lower lip.  

“ _Yup_ ,” Chloe says, understanding Aubrey’s question. “ _That’s all there is to it._ ”  

“Hm.”  

 

* * *

 

“Hey, what are you doing?” Ashley asks when she walks into Stacie’s house and finds her hunched over her laptop.  

“Googling something.”  

“I can see that. I’m asking what you’re doing instead of reading that beautiful script Kathryn wants you to look at before rehearsal tomorrow,” Ashley says as she makes her way to the kitchen to make coffee.  

“I’m googling something,” Stacie says offhandedly and Ashley knows that Stacie hasn’t heard a single thing she’s just said.  

“Stacie!” Ashley yells but she’s all the way in the kitchen and her admonishing tone has no effect over such a long range so she finishes fixing herself a cup of coffee and drops onto the couch next to Stacie but doesn’t bother glancing at the laptop screen. “Stacie.”  

“Can I ask you a question?” Stacie says, ignoring Ashley’s prompting, closing her laptop and pushing it away from her body.  

“You’re so polite all of a sudden,” Ashley teases but Stacie doesn’t even react to the jab and it has Ashley intrigued. “Go ahead.”  

“What is there to do for fun in LA?”  

Ashley slowly turns to her, mouth slightly agape as she frowns, considering the question.  

“What do you mean?”  

“What do you do when you have a day off?” Stacie rephrases, lifting her hand so she can bite at the nail on her thumb, deep in contemplation.  

“I don’t have days off,” Ashley says with a laugh but Stacie turns to her with narrowed eyes and Ashley’s laughter dies down. “I sleep.”  

“You’re being so unhelpful.”  

“I don’t know how to help you if I don’t even know what you’re asking me,” Ashley gives, shrugging her shoulders before sipping from her coffee.  

“If you have a night to yourself, what do you do?”  

“Netflix, takeout, no pants,” Ashley says without missing a beat, watching Stacie closely as she says the words, sees Stacie’s frown deepen as she stares off into the distance.  

“No… that won’t work.”  

“Why?”  

“Hm?” Stacie hums, looking back at Ashley.  

“Why are you asking me what I do with my free nights?”  

“I just don’t know what there is to do for fun in LA.”  

“Why do you— _oh_.” Ashley tries not to sound too smug, lifts her mug to her face to sip from it to hide her smile as she finally understands what’s happening.  

“What, ‘oh’?” Stacie says then, her voice high pitched as she pretends not to know what Ashley’s just come to realise.  

“‘Oh’ as in I just figured out what you’re asking and why,” Ashley says. “I guess your first date with Aubrey went well?”  

“What makes you say that?” Stacie asks, lifts her chin as she narrows her eyes at Ashley, crosses her arms. 

“Because you went out on a date last Thursday and now you’re asking me for date ideas so I’m guessing it’s your turn to organise this one,” Ashley says, arching an eyebrow pointedly as she sips from her coffee again, daring Stacie to counter the words.  

“It was awesome, okay?” Stacie finally admits, shoulders slumping. “We got barbecue from Bludso’s and went to Electric Dusk Drive-In to see the new Wes Anderson movie. It was awesome and perfect and great and now I don’t know where to take her because I don’t know how to date people.”  

Ashley laughs and she knows it’s the wrong reaction when Stacie’s dejected expression makes way for a glower meant exclusively for Ashley.  

“I’m sorry, Stace,” Ashley says softly even though she’s making no effort to contain her wide smile. “She already likes you so I don’t know what you’re worried about.”  

“It needs to be great,” Stacie whines.  

“Why?”  

“Why what?”  

“Why does the date need to be great?” Ashley says pointedly and Stacie falls quiet when she realises Ashley’s making a pretty good point. “You already did the hard part, so just go hang out with her and kiss her at the end of the night.”  

Stacie falls quiet at that, deep in thought. “I could take her to the observatory…” Stacie muses out loud and Ashley rolls her eyes as she smiles, finishes her coffee.  

“Show her nerd Stacie, she’ll love that,” Ashley tries to tease and Stacie just hums in response, mulling it over and Ashley knows she’s lost Stacie to her thoughts.  

 

* * *

 

“Hey do you want to go to Cancun?” Aubrey asks casually, forces herself to keep her eyes on her phone because even though she knows she’s a good actress, she doesn’t want to take any risks.  

“Like in general, or?” Jessica asks, looking up from her laptop.  

“Next week,” Aubrey says. “The schedule’s clear for a few days so I thought it might be nice to get away for a bit if you’re up for it.”  

Jessica lights up, smile wide as she nods, before suddenly remembering something.  

“I was going to spend some time with Ashley next week,” Jessica says, her excitement dimming somewhat. 

“Well, you don’t have to, just think about it and let me know.”  

“Okay,” Jessica says, biting at her lower lip in consideration.  

“I’ll get a pair of flight tickets just in case,” Aubrey suggests offhandedly. “We can always cancel them if they won’t be used.”  

“Do you want me to do it?” Jessica offers.  

“No, I’ll do it,” Aubrey says with a smile. “You just let me know if you’re in.”  

“Sounds like a plan,” Jessica says with a smile and Aubrey nods.  

 

* * *

 

 “You’re gonna win,” Aubrey whispers into her ear and Stacie twitches out of the way to escape the breathy tone as she tries to keep her composure.

“Stop saying that,” Stacie hisses back at her, turning her head enough so she doesn’t have to speak above a whisper but not so much that she makes eye contact. “I’m gonna look like such a brat if someone else wins and the camera pans to me.”  

“That won’t happen,” Aubrey says assuredly, her fingers dancing down Stacie’s arm nearest to her to tangle their fingers and squeeze her hand. “Because you’re going to win.”  

Stacie grumbles a little too loudly, getting the attention of the people sitting around them.  

“Stop it,” she says, finally turning her head and seeing Aubrey’s twinkling eyes and enchanting smile.  

Aubrey leans in for a quick kiss and Stacie can’t help but melt, smiling against the blonde’s lips.  

“Chloe isn’t even here because she knows you’re gonna win and not her,” Aubrey says when they pull apart and Stacie’s stance hardens again, eyes narrowing at Aubrey.  

“You told me she’s not here because of a night shoot,” Stacie says lowly and Aubrey turns away to look at the stage with deep, and most likely fake, interest.  

“I lied.”  

“I thought this relationship was built on honesty and trust,” Stacie says, arching an eyebrow as she lets go of Aubrey’s hand to cross her arms.  

Aubrey frowns down at her now empty hand but doesn’t try to reach for Stacie’s hand again, petulantly placing her own hand back on her lap.  

“It  _is_  built on honesty and trust,” she says. “That’s why you should trust and believe me when I tell you that you’re going to win, baby.”  

Stacie doesn’t answer her and Aubrey thinks she’s being glared at again, so when she turns to find Stacie staring at her with a coy smile and delighted expression, she’s slightly taken aback.  

“What?”  

“You’ve never called me baby before.”  

“Yes I have,” Aubrey defends.  

“Not to my face, you haven’t,” Stacie says, her absolute delight growing by the second. “Does this mean you call me baby in your head? Or when you talk about me?”   

“That’s not what I said,” Aubrey tries to say but the bright red blush creeping up her neck and cheeks belies the truth.  

“I like it,” Stacie says, leaning in to kiss Aubrey’s warm cheek.  

Aubrey tries to suppress her smile but she fails, especially when she can feel Stacie’s smile on her cheek so she rolls her eyes and twists her head to capture’s Stacie’s lips in a soft kiss.  

Stacie practically rips away from her when a new presenter takes the stage and she hears her name being called out in the list of nominees, and Aubrey laughs smugly when Stacie’s name is called out as the winner of the Critics’ Choice Award.  

“I hate you so much right now,” Stacie hisses at her as she stands up but Aubrey just smiles sweetly, leaning up to kiss her quickly.  

“But I’m still right.”  

  

* * *

 

“What are you up to next week?” Stacie asks, sliding into the chair opposite Ashley as she flips through a stack of papers.  

“Hanging out with Jessica probably,” Ashley says distractedly but when Stacie doesn’t immediately respond, she pauses and looks up. “What about you?”  

“I was thinking of going to Mexico for a few days,” Stacie says with a shrug, trailing her index finger in a random pattern across the tabletop.  

“Do you want me to go with you?” Ashley asks with a long sigh.  

“I don’t need a babysitter, I have friends,” Stacie says immediately in protest, but then she shrugs, shoots Ashley a coy look. “Unless you want to come? As my friend?”  

“I’ll let you know,” Ashley says after consideration.  

“No problemo,” Stacie says with a wide smile.  

“Do you want me to get tickets just in case?”  

“Nah,” Stacie says dismissively. “We can always get ’em later. I’ll just start looking at hotels while waiting for your answer,” Stacie adds wistfully and Ashley just rolls her eyes with a smile.  

 

* * *

 

“Hi girlfriend,” Stacie says with a grin, leaning against the doorjamb when Aubrey opens her front door.

“Hi,” Aubrey says, shaking her head fondly but still leaning in for a quick kiss. “Come in.”  

“Nice place.”  

“Thank you. Was it worth the excruciatingly long drive?” Aubrey teases, mocking Stacie as she closes the front door.  

Stacie rolls her eyes, hauls Aubrey closer by the hips so she can kiss her deeply and Aubrey melts against her with a soft laugh, one of her hands cupping Stacie’s jaw tenderly.  

“Maybe,” Stacie teases when they separate and Aubrey narrows her eyes at the brunette, pouting so Stacie leans in for a quick kiss and says, “Yes.”  

“Right answer.”  

“You do live really fucking far.”  

“But look at how pretty my house is,” Aubrey flirts as she steps away, leads Stacie further into the house.  

Stacie trails behind her, taking in the large open space and floor to ceiling windows. She drops her bag in the hallway and she’s about to turn away and follow Aubrey into the living room when her eye catches a wall of pictures and she finds herself drifting over, smiling at pictures of Aubrey with Chloe, and Jessica, and some other friends. There’s a polaroid picture of Aubrey and Chloe when they were younger, each holding an Emmy award. There are a bunch of pictures of Aubrey with two young girls and a few of Aubrey with famous celebrities and her eyes go wide because—  

“Is that Oprah?!” Stacie exclaims and Aubrey turns back, joins Stacie by the photographs and nods.  

“Yup,” she says, eyes lighting up at the memory. “We were on her show with the whole cast to talk about the last season of East Wing.”  

“Look at your babyface,” Stacie coos. “Was she amazing?”  

Aubrey doesn’t even have the words to describe it, just nods fervently and Stacie smiles, turns back to the photo as she leans in.

“Who are these kids?” Stacie asks, pointing to a candid picture of a young girl standing in front of a birthday cake, Aubrey bent behind her so their heads are next to each other as they whisper to one another with mischievous smiles.  

“That’s Evangeline,” Aubrey says, then points to another photograph where she’s carrying a toddler. “And that’s Isabella.”  

“And they are… your two secret daughters? You been keeping secrets from me, Posen?” Stacie teases and Aubrey laughs, shakes her head.  

“They’re my goddaughters,” Aubrey explains quickly. “They’re Chloe’s kids.”  

“Chloe has kids?!” Stacie exclaims.  

“Evvie just turned four and Bella is almost two.”  

“How did I not know Chloe has kids?”  

“Because you think _I’m_  the most secretive person in Hollywood,” Aubrey quips and Stacie can’t really argue that point. “She wants them to have normal childhoods so everybody does what they can to keep them away from cameras and paparazzi.”  

“Makes total sense,” Stacie says even as she tries to come to terms with the new knowledge.  

“Let me show you the house,” Aubrey offers and Stacie smiles, nods.  

 

* * *

 

“Hey, are you almost here?” Jessica says when Aubrey picks up the phone.  

“ _Are you at Planet Hollywood?_ ” Aubrey asks, but Jessica doesn’t even hear her words because she can hear the sound of waves crashing onto the beach in the background and she’s immediately suspicious.

“Why are you still at home?” she asks sharply, recognising Aubrey’s stall for the hesitation it is.  

“ _Because I’m not going to Mexico with you_ ,” Aubrey says softly and she starts to say something else but she’s cut off by Jessica’s angry voice.  

“Aubrey, what the hell?!”  

“ _I was never going to Mexico with you, Jess_ ,” Aubrey explains. “ _Are you at Planet Hollywood yet or not?_ ”  

“I’m almost there,” Jessica grumbles. “What do you mean you were never gonna go to Mexico with me?”  

“ _I mean, I tricked you into going on a real vacation without me_ ,” Aubrey says but Jessica can’t think straight through her anger.  

“So your solution was to send me alone?”  

“ _You’re not going alone._ ”  

“Why are you being so cryptic?!”

“ _Are you at PH or not?_ ”  

“I am now. Why does it matter?”  

“ _Look around, Jess._ ”  

“I don’t want to, I wanna go home.”  

“ _You want to go to Cancun with—_ ”  

Jessica hears someone shush Aubrey immediately, cutting off the rest of her words and it’s enough to leave Jessica completely confused.  

“What is going on?!”  

“Jessica?”  

The blonde looks away from her phone, turns her head at the sound of her name, mouth dropping open in surprise when she sees the brunette approaching her with a confused but delighted look.  

“What are you doing here?” Ashley asks.  

“ _They found each other! Hang up the phone, Bree._ ”  

“I think… I’m going to Mexico with you?” Jessica says, holding up her phone in confusion.  

“ _You are!_ ” Stacie’s voice calls out from the phone and Ashley doesn’t feel bad when she grabs Jessica’s phone and lifts it to her ear.  

“What the fuck, Stacie?”  

“ _Surprise! An all expenses paid trip to Mexico with your future girlfriend,_ ” Stacie says.  

“You tricked me.”

“ _Oh yeah. You can thank me later. Go have fun!_ ”  

Ashley opens her mouth to respond but then she hears the dial tone indicating that Stacie’s hung up on her and she growls softly as she looks at the screen telling her the call has ended, expression softening when she makes eye contact with Jessica as she hands the blonde back her phone.  

“You don’t mind being stuck with me, do you?” Jessica says teasingly, but there’s a hint of worry there and Ashley’s confused annoyance melts away instantly.  

“No! Not at all. You’re way better company than Stacie anyway,” Ashley says with a smile that Jessica mirrors.  

“Okay great! Should we go?” Jessica asks, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at the check-in desks and Ashley nods as she grabs her bag.  

“I can’t believe they tricked us but I’m happy they did,” she says as she walks beside Jessica and the blonde ducks her head to hide her blush.  

“I’m happy too,” she replies softly and that’s all the reassurance Ashley needs.  

 

* * *

 

“I’m not sleeping with you?” Stacie asks softly when Aubrey shows her the guest room and Aubrey can hear the hint of disappointment badly concealed by her teasing tone.  

“I can’t have sex with you,” Aubrey says, hating herself for not being able to give in so she takes a step away from Stacie, fingers sliding out of Stacie’s loose grasp.  

“That’s not what I asked,” Stacie clarifies, reaching for Aubrey as she turns away, blonde hair curtained around her face and Stacie knows her well enough to recognise the move for what it is so she tries to keep Aubrey close, falling short as Aubrey skilfully dodges her. “Aubrey.”  

“Stacie,” she says in the same tone, finally meeting Stacie’s eyes, sees the pleading look there.  

“I know we’re not going to have sex,” Stacie whispers, not sure how to reassure Aubrey but hating that the blonde seems so closed off, her whole posture rigid and this isn’t how she wants their time together to be. “I just want to sleep next to you.”  

“But I’ll want to,” Aubrey says softly, fingers fidgeting with the bracelet she’s wearing as she avoids Stacie’s eyes.

“We don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with,” Stacie replies.  

“I know that,” Aubrey says, almost indignantly but then she deflates. “I don’t want to lead you on.”  

“You’re not,” Stacie says reassuringly, her arm reaching out for Aubrey, pausing in the air between them as she waits for Aubrey to step closer to her, wants to show that she’s not going to force this and that everything is up to Aubrey.  

“You’re amazing,” Aubrey whispers as she moves closer, sliding an arm around Stacie’s waist and pressing her body against Stacie’s, face buried in the crook of her neck.  

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” Stacie teases to lighten the moment, kissing the side of her head as she tightens her arms around Aubrey.

“Just the ones I really like,” Aubrey says, her voice muffled by Stacie’s skin but words clear.  

Stacie laughs softly and Aubrey lifts her head enough so she can press her lips against Stacie’s in a slow, deep kiss.  

“Okay,” Aubrey says when they part for air, slides a hand down Stacie’s arm to hold her hand and tug her along softly. “Come on.”  

Stacie quickly reaches for her bag and follows Aubrey across the hall, stopping in the doorway when she takes in the master bedroom, her eyes immediately catching on the amazing view and the same dark hardwood floors and floor-to-ceiling windows as downstairs.  

“Holy shit,” she breathes and Aubrey stops a few feet away, turns to her with a smile. “I can’t believe you tried to keep me from this room.”  

“I was going to show it to you,” Aubrey says as she rolls her eyes, moves back to take Stacie’s bag from her and drop it in the walk-in closet and giving Stacie free reign to walk around the room.  

“This is gorgeous, Aubrey,” Stacie says as she walks further into the room and takes in the view from the windows, not missing the huge inviting bed on her way.

“Thanks,” Aubrey gives with a small smile, stepping closer and sliding her arms around Stacie’s waist, looking over her shoulder at the beach. “Want to go swimming?”  

“Yes,” Stacie says, twisting in Aubrey’s loose embrace and leaning in for a kiss. “Thank you for inviting me.”  

“I’m glad we get to spend some uninterrupted time together,” Aubrey says a little bashfully, Stacie’s blinding smile a little overwhelming.  

“Me too.”  

 

* * *

 

“Good morning,” Aubrey says groggily when she blinks open her eyes, squirms so she’s on her back next to Stacie, twists her head to look at the woman.  

“Good morning,” Stacie drawls, smiling back at Aubrey and leaning in for a quick kiss.  

“Sleep well?”  

“Amazing,” Stacie answers and then Aubrey shifts even more, onto her side facing Stacie with a wide smile and at first Stacie thinks there isn’t a particular reason for it, thinks it’s just how Aubrey is in the morning but then the blonde speaks.  

“So are we just going to pretend you weren’t spooning me all night?”  

Stacie scrunches up her nose as she avoids Aubrey’s eyes, stares up at the ceiling. “Dammit,” she finally mutters under her breath and Aubrey laughs softly.  

“You thought I wouldn’t notice?”  

“I thought I got away clean this morning,” Stacie admits and it’s as good an admission of truth.  

“I got up early to go to the bathroom,” Aubrey explains and Stacie’s pouting even as she twists onto her side to face Aubrey.  

“You’re nice to hold,” she says in a level voice but Aubrey’s smile widens and she bites down on her lower lip to contain her smugness.  

“So basically,” she starts, reaching out to brush a fingertip between Stacie’s furrowed eyebrows and tap Stacie’s nose. “You’re admitting that you’re the big spoon, care bear.”  

“I’m not admitting shit,” Stacie growls, batting away Aubrey’s hand and Aubrey just giggles in response so Stacie squirms and turns away from Aubrey.  

“Don’t go,” Aubrey whines when she’s faced with Stacie’s back so she shifts closer, wraps an arm around Stacie’s middle and settles against her as she starts peppering kisses along the back of Stacie’s neck and shoulders. She smiles in satisfaction when she feels Stacie shiver, keeps moving her lips across the brunette’s skin, uses the hand she has pressed against Stacie’s middle to slowly inch under the fabric of Stacie’s sleep shirt and caress smooth skin.  

“I won’t tell anybody you like being my big spoon,” Aubrey taunts, scrapes her teeth gently along the side of Stacie’s neck and Stacie’s torn, her body wanting to react to Aubrey’s touch but her brain valiantly trying to fight against it.  

Stacie groans softly because she knows she’s going to give and when she turns onto her back, Aubrey wastes no time in sliding over, settling on top of her and kissing Stacie languidly.

Stacie savours the slow serenity of the morning, the sounds of waves rolling onto the beach calming as she kisses Aubrey, lets her hand softly drift down the blonde’s back, fingers pressing into soft skin where Aubrey’s shirt doesn’t quite cover her lower back.  

Aubrey shifts on top of her, and Stacie knows that nothing is going to happen and she doesn’t want to get carried away so her hands move lower, grip Aubrey’s thighs softly to urge the blonde to widen her legs so Stacie’s are between hers and when she does, Stacie sits up in one smooth move, one of her hands wrapping around Aubrey’s middle to keep her close, their lips never parting.  

Aubrey hums into her mouth, arm looping around Stacie’s neck as she’s jarred into motion but she settles easily in the woman’s lap, smiles as Stacie reaches up to tuck some hair behind her ear, hand sliding into blonde strands to keep Aubrey close.  

“Very good morning,” Aubrey says, voice raspy when they slow to a stop and separate, fingers playing with the hairs at the nape of Stacie’s neck.  

Stacie smiles, drops her head into the crook of Aubrey’s neck with a small murmur of agreement as she lets her eyes slide closed. Aubrey turns her head and softly kisses Stacie’s cheek, lips lingering there as she revels in the feeling of being wrapped up in Stacie’s arms.  

“Not that this isn’t super nice…” Stacie starts reluctantly, her words muffled by Aubrey’s skin and Aubrey’s smiling because she already knows what Stacie’s going to say. “But I really need to eat something soon.”  

“You know where the kitchen is,” Aubrey teases, pecks at Stacie’s cheek again before slowly pulling away.  

Stacie makes a sound of disgruntlement, pouts as she makes eye contact with Aubrey.  

“Where’s that Southern hospitality I’m always hearing about?” Stacie teases when Aubrey starts crawling out of her lap.  

“I haven’t set foot in the south in years,” Aubrey gives lightly as she turns away, and the words are meant to be humorous but Stacie can’t help but frown at the thinly veiled allusion there.

“What?” she says and Aubrey turns to her with a soft frown that deepens when she sees Stacie’s concerned look.  

“What?”  

“You haven’t been home in years?” Stacie asks and something in Aubrey’s eyes harden.  

“I  _am_ home.”  

“Aubrey…”  

“Let it go, Stacie,” she says sharply so Stacie does, holds up her hands in surrender.  

“I’m sorry.”  

“No—don’t apologise,” Aubrey says, deflating slightly, the tense set of her shoulders softening as she briefly closes her eyes with a drawn-out sigh. “I just—I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Stacie says, finally standing up and joining Aubrey at the side of the bed, wraps a loose arm around the blonde’s waist to pull her closer.  

“I know I’m not welcome at my parents’ so I’ve never gone back. I’ve come to terms with it so please don’t be worried,” Aubrey says softly, looking down but Stacie ducks her head so she can meet Aubrey’s eyes.  

“Are you really okay with it?” she asks carefully, trying not to let her disbelief show too strongly.  

“No,” Aubrey whispers with a shaky smile, eyes wet with unshed tears, and Stacie’s arms tighten around her. “But I can’t do anything about it so all I can do is joke about it.”  

“Okay.” Stacie nuzzles her cheek, presses her lips there in a tender kiss and Aubrey leans into the embrace, eyes closing as she takes in a shaky breath.  

Stacie’s stomach growls loudly then and Aubrey breaks away with a teary but loud laugh, slides her hand into Stacie’s and tangles their fingers, squeezing softly.  

“Let’s go get you fed.”  

“You make it sound like I’m a prize pony,” Stacie says with a chuckle, following Aubrey out the room.  

“You do have a very rigid eating schedule. It’s a little endearing how predictable you are,” Aubrey says, throwing a coy smile over her shoulder. “C’mon, pony.”  

 

* * *

 

The phone buzzes loudly on the nightstand, twin groans coming from the bed in response. A slender hand makes its way out of the pile of blankets and reaches for the offending cellphone, and she barely cracks open an eye before hitting the green button to accept the call.  

“Hello?”  

“Jessica?”  

“Yes?”  

There’s a beat of silence and Jessica thinks the person’s hung up but she doesn’t feel like opening her eyes to confirm that.  

“Good morning,” the voice says and Jessica’s sleep-fogged brain finally registers who she’s talking to.  

“Stacie?”  

“Can I talk to Ashley please?” Stacie asks, voice cheery and teasing and Jessica can’t quite understand why she seems so upbeat.  

“I don’t know where she is,” Jessica says, yawning softly. “You should try her phone.”  

“I did,” Stacie says smugly and Jessica’s eyes fly open as she looks at the phone in her hand, realises the protective case around it is not purple like hers but grey. “Jess, you still there?” Stacie taunts with a low laugh. “Did I wake you up? Did you have a late night—”  

“I’m just gonna put you on hold,” Jessica interrupts, voice squeaky and she hears Stacie laugh, cuts it off by putting the call on hold. She twists in bed, softly rubs Ashley’s arm to wake her up. “Ashley…”  

“Hm?” she groans, turning further into Jessica. “What?”  

“Stacie’s on the phone for you,” Jessica says, holding up the phone and shaking it softly but Ashley doesn’t even open her eyes as she tightens her arm around Jessica.  

“Just hang up on her,” Ashley says, yawning.  

Jessica takes Stacie off hold, can hear her talking with someone so she softly calls out her name and says, “Can you call back later? Ashley’s busy right now.”  

“Yeah, I bet she is!” Stacie says with a loud laugh. “Are you two having a nice time? Are you at least getting out of the h—”  

Stacie gets cut off again as Ashley reaches out and hits the red button to abruptly end the call before Stacie can really start teasing them and Jessica giggles softly, twisting enough to put the phone back on the bedside table before turning back to Ashley.  

“That was a little rude,” she chides gently but still wraps her arms around Ashley and sighing softly when they settle into a comfortable position.  

“We’re on vacation,” Ashley mumbles, nuzzling Jessica’s neck when she starts raking her fingers up and down Ashley’s bare back. “Usually when she calls this early she knows I’m still asleep and that I won’t hear my phone so she just leaves a message.”  

“I’m a light sleeper,” Jessica whispers, almost like a secret but Ashley’s in on it, had noticed it from the past few nights how easily Jessica wakes so she lifts her head, squirms to look at the blonde.  

“I’ll tell her that,” Ashley says. “Good morning.”  

“Great morning,” Jessica amends pointedly, smiling as she leans in to kiss Ashley sharply.  

 

* * *

 

“You can bake?” Aubrey asks, a little impressed as they make their way through the supermarket.  

“I can cook too,” Stacie says as she tosses something into the cart Aubrey’s pushing. “I’m a total catch,” Stacie adds cheekily, trailing her hand down Aubrey’s back heavily.  

“I know,” Aubrey says with a coy smile. “I don’t date duds.”  

Stacie laughs loudly at that, kissing Aubrey’s cheek quickly before flitting away.  

“I really like baking,” Stacie says with a casual shrug.

“Anything in particular?”  

“Cake.”  

“Why?” Aubrey asks with a soft smile as she watches Stacie look into their cart before turning away again.  

“Cake always makes everything better, no matter how much you hate yourself,” Stacie says decisively as she peers at the selection of sugars.  

Aubrey’s head snaps up at that as she regards Stacie closely, can see that the woman had meant it in jest but it’s exactly those type of jokes that cause her alarm because she makes them too, and they’re never entirely only meant to be humorous.  

Stacie turns to her once she’s picked out a bag of sugar, pausing when she finds Aubrey’s brow furrowed and her head tilted as she watches Stacie.

“What?”  

“You hate yourself?” Aubrey asks gently, her voice hushed but loud enough for Stacie to hear her and Aubrey almost regrets addressing it when she sees Stacie’s easy smile drop, replaced with a guilty look.  

“Who doesn’t?” Stacie tries to joke but Aubrey’s frown just deepens and Stacie feels even worse. “Don’t worry about it, okay?”  

“Of course I’m going to worry about it,” Aubrey argues immediately, reaching for Stacie and pulling her closer. “Stacie…” she whispers.  

“I don’t want to ruin our time together,” Stacie says softly, stepping into Aubrey’s personal space as her voice drops.  

“I know that,” Aubrey replies, her fingertips dancing along the inside of Stacie’s arm. “But here’s the thing…”  

Stacie turns more into her but doesn’t meet her eyes, keeps her gaze averted.  

“You always say that,” Aubrey says softly and she sees Stacie twist her mouth, knows she’s right. “I’m not saying you have to tell me right now and I don’t want to push too hard, but I’m here for you, okay? Just because we make out sometimes doesn’t mean I’m not your friend anymore.”  

“We make out a lot more than sometimes,” Stacie says petulantly but Aubrey just smiles coyly, presses the pads of her fingers against the inside of Stacie’s wrist, urging Stacie to look at her and when she does, Aubrey shoots her a sympathetic look. “I get what you’re saying,” Stacie adds in a small voice.  

“Okay,” Aubrey says softly and Stacie quickly twists her hand and reaches for Aubrey’s, tangling their fingers together and squeezing her hand softly.  

It doesn’t come up for the rest of day, until Stacie’s measuring out flour and sugar, Aubrey perched on one of her barstools as she watches Stacie.  

“Basically, my dad thinks I’m wasting my potential,” Stacie says bluntly, getting right to the point.  

“Why?” Aubrey asks and Stacie pauses, presses her palms into the countertop as she sighs and looks up at Aubrey.  

“Remember how I said I went to Caltech?” she asks and Aubrey nods. “I graduated with top honours and a full academic scholarship to MIT’s mechanical engineering graduate programme,” Stacie elaborates, stepping away quickly to grab the eggs from the fridge. “My future was basically set in stone.”  

She cracks three eggs into a small bowl before faltering, looking around the kitchen at all the drawers.

“That one,” Aubrey says, pointing to a drawer and Stacie shoots her a grateful look as she pulls it open and grabs the whisk.  

“Thanks.”  

“So how did you go from being an engineering nerd to starring in a multi-billion dollar movie series?” Aubrey asks, smiling when Stacie hands her the bowl of eggs and whisk, instructions more than obvious.  

“It’s all Cynthia Rose’s fault,” Stacie says in a mockingly angry tone. “I only had a partial scholarship to Caltech and my parents have two other kids so it’s not exactly like I could ask them for money, so I started modelling.”  

“You hate modelling,” Aubrey interjects, remembering Stacie’s never-ending complaints whenever they had to do photoshoots.

“I know. I hate it because I’ve done it,” Stacie teases, sticking out her tongue at Aubrey. “I wasn’t trying to be a supermodel but it was the easiest way to make money that isn’t porn.”  

Aubrey bites her lips at that, trying not to laugh, shakes her head fondly as Stacie grins at her.  

“I mostly did catalogues. There was actually a really fun shoot where I modelled a bunch of wedding dresses,” Stacie comments.  

“You’re going off on a tangent,” Aubrey warns playfully, handing the bowl of whisked eggs back to Stacie and watching as she adds them to the mixture.  

“I met Cynthia Rose at a drag show the summer after junior year and we immediately hit it off. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but she’s like  _always_ surrounded by people because her mom is majorly protective plus the label likes making sure she’s happy and back then she hated it plus she was just becoming more well-known and people were flocking to her to hitch their wagons while she shot up to fame,” Stacie rambles and Aubrey lets her, takes in the flailing hands as she gestures wildly, a nostalgic smile on her face.  

“I was modelling but I wasn’t in the business, you know? I was still just a college kid and she liked that freedom so she’d come up to campus and we’d hang out whenever she needed a break. She heard that they were doing an open casting call for Alana Jackson and bullied me into auditioning.”  

Aubrey laughs softly at that and Stacie can’t help but chuckle as well.  

“Had you ever acted before?” Aubrey asks but then Stacie purses her lips, looks away, suddenly focused on the batter she’s mixing. “Stace…”  

“I was a theatre kid,” Stacie confesses softly and Aubrey’s eyes go wide with glee.  

“No,” she breathes in excited disbelief.  

“I’m from New York!” Stacie tries to defend, a blush rising to her cheeks. “I almost went to a performing arts high school but I figured it would ruin my chances of getting into a good engineering school.”  

“Are there pictures?” Aubrey asks, but then her eyes go wider. “Are there  _videos_?”  

“Can I continue?” Stacie asks with an annoyed glare but the effect is dulled by her red cheeks. Aubrey settles down then, leans back as she relaxes and lets it go for the time being, expression softening into a small smile.  

“Yes.”  

“Hundreds of people auditioned so I never thought I’d get it; it was almost like a joke at some point,” Stacie explains. “But then I got called back. And then again. And again. And then it became serious, like it was starting to look like I might get the part.”  

“How many rounds did you go through?”  

“Eight.”  

“Wow.”  

“Yeah. After the fourth callback, I was ready to bow out because I had finals coming up and I’d just been accepted at MIT but CR said I could always turn them down if they offered me the role.”  

“But you didn’t.”  

“The books weren’t that popular so they were just going to make one movie,” Stacie says with a shrug. “I liked doing theatre in high school so I figured why not just go for it and since it was just one movie… I deferred grad school for a year and we started filming that summer.”  

“And then the movie blew up,” Aubrey says softly.  

“And then the movie blew up,” Stacie confirms with a wry smile.  

“You couldn’t go back to grad school?”  

“I could… but I didn’t want to anymore. I liked theatre but this was so different and I fell in love. I was in a really powerful position too because they couldn’t recast the role but they’d only locked me in for one movie and they wanted to make two or three more.”  

“Your contract was only for one film even though they knew there were two other books in the trilogy?” Aubrey asks, surprised by it, scoffs at the stupidity of the producers. “The studio fucked up.”  

“They  _really_ didn’t think Alana Jackson was going to be a hit but then it made over 600 million dollars.”

“How insane was the offer?”  

Stacie shoots her a look, not even sure how to convey with words what she wants to say.  

“I never thought I’d see a number that big on a paycheck ever,” Stacie finally says and Aubrey nods, believing her.

“How much?”  

“Fifteen mil for three movies.”  

“Did your agent try for a percentage of gross?”  

“The studio tried to say no because I was a nobody, but…”  

“How much?”  

“One percent.”  

Aubrey looks impressed. “Well done.”  

“I figured I could take the paycheck and then figure out what to do afterwards. I had a whole life ahead of me and I figured I could always go back to school afterwards.”  

Aubrey nods, waits patiently as Stacie pours batter into three different cake tins and puts them in the oven. She starts cleaning up when Aubrey gets up and shoos her away.  

“You’re gonna mess up my system,” Aubrey says teasingly, nudges Stacie with her hip, over to the spot she’d just vacated.  

“I still have to make the frosting,” Stacie complains, pressing back against Aubrey, wrapping an arm around her hip as she leans in to kiss the blonde quickly.  

“Let me clean these first then,” Aubrey says, pushing Stacie away with a laugh. “Keep talking,” she orders playfully.  

“Yes ma’am,” Stacie whispers, trying for another kiss but Aubrey swats her away.  

“Alana Jackson movies. You made bank,” Aubrey prompts.  

“My agent got a call from Lauren Schuler Donner.”  

“X-Men.”  

Stacie nods. “She wanted me for the new wave of X-Men films and I was a hot commodity at the time—”  

“You’re a  _hot_ commodity now,” Aubrey flirts and Stacie shoots her an impressed look.  

“Are you flirting with me, Aubrey Posen?” Stacie asks bashfully, flutters her eyelashes mockingly.  

“Yes,” she says, making sure Stacie sees her trail her eyes up and down her body in an over-the-top leer.  

“I was a rising star at the time and they wanted my name attached to the franchise,” Stacie continues. “And they had the foresight to lock me in for more than one movie.”  

“How many movies do you still have left on that contract?” Aubrey asks, swiping a finger into the bowl and licking the batter off, glancing up when Stacie doesn’t immediately answer her, finds the brunette staring at her intensely. “Stace…”  

“Hm? What?”  

“How many movies do you still have left for X-Men?” Aubrey asks pointedly.  

“Three, including the one I start next month.”  

“Wait, I thought you were starting Voyage next month?”  

“I am,” Stacie says and when Aubrey looks up at her with a confused frown, Stacie sighs and shoots her a knowing look.  

“Oh.”  

“Yeah.”  

Aubrey pauses then, rinsing the bowls, lips pursed, before she looks up and smiles coyly at Stacie. “Don’t forget about me after you win your Oscar and start making multiple concurrent movies, okay?”  

The teasing words are unexpected and a wide smile unfurls over Stacie’s face as she processes the multiple layers of Aubrey’s sentence, not sure where to even start responding to it.  

Aubrey can practically see the cogs working in Stacie’s brain, her mouth opening and closing multiple times with no responses ready, head tilting as she stares at Aubrey and she can’t help but laugh softly at how Stacie’s brain seems to have short-circuited.  

“Stop saying I’m going to win the Oscar,” Stacie finally says. “You’re going to jinx it.”  

“Let’s look at the evidence, care bear,” Aubrey says and Stacie really wants to protest the nickname but it’s starting to grow on her and it warms her heart that Aubrey always says it with such reverence. “You won the Golden Globe, the Critics Choice and the Satellite Award. Will you start believing me after you win the SAG too?”  

“No.”  

“At least you’re honest about it,” Aubrey says with a small smile.  

“And the other thing?” Stacie starts.  

“Hm?” Aubrey responds, pretends to be coy about it, raises her eyebrows.  

“I’m definitely gonna want to see you no matter how busy I am,” Stacie says emphatically, pinning Aubrey down with an intense look and Aubrey stares right back at her with a small smile.  

“Good.”  

Stacie smiles and a silence falls between them as Aubrey washes the last of the utensils. Stacie watches her, almost as if in a trance, follows Aubrey’s hands as they move, deep in thought.  

“My dad thinks I’m addicted to fame and blinded by money.”  

Aubrey pauses and Stacie’s surprised she said the words out loud, keeps her gaze averted. “And that you’re wasting your potential?” Aubrey asks in a soft whisper, bringing up Stacie’s earlier words and Stacie nods, staring at the droplets travelling down over the bowls where Aubrey’s placed them on a drying rack, focused intently on the path the water takes.  

“He always wanted to go to space but he never got his degree and I was supposed to be his chance, y’know? I was supposed to fulfil his dream and it worked because for a long time I wanted to go to space too. My dream aligned with his but not anymore. Because I’m wasting my intelligence  _‘on movies_ ’,” Stacie says, voice low as she mimics her father’s voice. She shakes her head, shrugs one shoulder. “He’s so resentful of me for robbing him of his chance and for then squandering mine.”  

“Robbing him of his chance,” Aubrey repeats soundlessly to herself, letting the words sink in as she processes them and files them away. “Stacie?”  

“Yeah?”  

Aubrey waits until Stacie tears her gaze away from the drying rack and looks at her.  

“Why is there such a large age gap between you and the twins?”  

“Why do you ask?” Stacie tries to deflect but Aubrey’s familiar with it by now, is learning how to work around Stacie’s fight or flight response when it comes to being vulnerable.  

“Because in normal — non-Hollywood — families, when you have two kids with an age gap like that, one’s usually a surprise.”  

“Which one usually?” Stacie asks, not quite distracting from the question but not answering it either.  

“Whichever.”  

“What are you asking?”  

“Were you a surprise or were the twins a surprise?” Aubrey asks patiently.  

“Twins was definitely a surprise for all of us,” Stacie quips, chuckles softly but it sounds very forced, her laugh dying down too quickly for it to be genuine.  

“Stacie,” Aubrey whispers softly, knows why Stacie’s avoiding answering her for so long but they both need her to say it.  

“I was.”

Her voice is so soft that Aubrey doesn’t hear the words as much as she sees Stacie mouth them and Aubrey hates hearing it confirmed even though she’d been strongly suspecting it for a while.  

“Stacie…” Aubrey says, voice soft and Stacie’s been avoiding looking at her because she knows she’ll tear up but she can’t help herself, glances up and Aubrey’s heartbreak is written plainly on her face.   

“They were barely eighteen when they had me and thirty-one when they had the twins, so, you know,” Stacie says, smiling wryly, trying to keep her voice level. “My parents deliberately waited thirteen years to have another kid. It’s really hard not to take that as a sign.”  

Stacie swallows thickly as she considers how to say her next words without bursting into tears.  

“The twins were planned—well, one of them was—and I was the surprise and sometimes it’s hard to live with the knowledge that I was a mistake and that I ruined my parents’ lives.”  

She’s boring a hole into Aubrey’s countertop she’s staring at it so hard, but it means she doesn’t see Aubrey move around the kitchen island until she sees movement out of the corner of her eye and Stacie twitches, turns to her with a hand up to stop her.  

“If you touch me, I’m going to cry,” she whispers lowly and Aubrey stops but she doesn’t move away.  

Aubrey tilts her head in clear bewilderment.  

“Please,” Stacie begs, voice cracking and she blinks quickly, trying to get rid of the tears pooling in her eyes again.  

“Okay,” Aubrey says, holds up her hands as she takes a step back and Stacie smiles gratefully.  

“Okay,” Stacie says.  

“Your parents are married?” Aubrey prods carefully and Stacie nods.  

“They got married before I was born because both my grandparents are really religious and, I mean, they stayed together, so they must really love each other, right?” Stacie says, shrugs. “So at least they don’t resent me for that.”  

“You sound so sure.”  

“Because I am,” Stacie says strongly, suddenly filled with anger at the injustice of everything. “They love me, and I know that, but they don’t love me the way they love Allie and Andy. My grandma always talks about how my mom was going to be such a great lawyer until she had me. My dad had a full scholarship to college and he was gonna study aerospace engineering. Do you know what he does now?”  

“What?” Aubrey says.  

“He files papers for a bank. My mom sells insurance,” Stacie says sharply. “I ruined their future. We struggled so much when I was younger and it’s all because of me and now I live this great big life and I take care of my family because I love them but it just… I love my parents but they resent me and I resent the twins because I’m so jealous of them but I also love them so much and they love me but they also feel guilty because they know our parents love them more than me and everything is so fucked up and sometimes—”  

Stacie’s breath catches loudly and Aubrey doesn’t think Stacie even notices that she’s crying, heavy tears rolling down her cheeks as she looks around wildly, like an animal trapped with no way out.  

“Sometimes?” Aubrey prompts and Stacie’s lower lip trembles as she meets Aubrey’s eyes and she looks so guilty and Aubrey can’t figure that part out.  

“Sometimes…” Stacie starts but she stops immediately, teeth clamping down on her lower lip.  

“Stacie, sometimes what?” Aubrey pushes, refusing to look away.  

“Sometimes I think everybody would be better off if I wasn’t around.”  

Stacie immediately feels guilty when she sees the horrified look on Aubrey’s face.  

“Sorry, forget I said—” Stacie starts to say through her tears but Aubrey shakes her head, holds up her hand to halt Stacie’s words.  

“Can I please touch you?” Aubrey asks brusquely and Stacie’s confused by the request but she nods and Aubrey strides forward, reaching up to cup Stacie’s jaw, sweep her thumb across Stacie’s cheek to wipe away some of the tears there. “None of this is your fault, you know that, right?”  

Stacie seems so surprised by the words and Aubrey’s heart breaks even more at the probability that nobody’s ever said this to her before.  

“What?” she breathes, voice cracking.  

“Your parents having you, them not being happy, them not living up to their full potential or whatever? None of that is your fault.”  

“But if I—”  

“No, Stacie,” Aubrey interrupts strongly. “You’re the casualty in this situation, not the cause.”  

“What?” Stacie whimpers as Aubrey’s words sink in and hit her like a ton of bricks, gaze darting between Aubrey’s eyes rapidly, trying to focus on Aubrey’s adamant expression even though everything is blurry because of her tears and she feels like she’s not getting enough oxygen.  

“Baby I know how much it sucks to have parents that don’t love you unconditionally,” Aubrey says emphatically, her other hand reaching up to cup Stacie’s face and make sure the brunette doesn’t shy away from her unyielding gaze. “But none of what you just said is your fault. You’re a victim here.”  

Stacie chokes on a sob and when Aubrey loosens her grip, Stacie comes crashing into her, face buried in the crook of her neck as she weeps. Aubrey wraps her arms tightly around Stacie, cradles the woman’s head against her as she turns her head to press her lips against the side of Stacie’s head, fingers threading through her hair soothingly.  

Stacie’s hanging onto her for dear life and Aubrey becomes a little concerned about how she seems to be gasping for breath but when she tries to give Stacie some room to breathe, the long arms wrapped around her waist tighten and keep her close.  

“Stacie?” Aubrey coos softly and even through her tears, Stacie hums against Aubrey’s skin to urge her to continue. “For the record, I would really miss you,” Aubrey whispers directly into her ear and she can feel Stacie smile unsteadily.  

“I’m not going to do anything to myself,” Stacie finally manages, her voice still thick with tears but there’s a shaky smile on her face when she pulls away enough to reach up and wipe away her tears with her forearm. 

Aubrey has to twist her head to see her properly but she’s just grateful that Stacie’s not closing herself off or stepping away.  

“Okay.”  

“It’s just an intrusive thought I have every once in a while,” Stacie says with a resigned shrug.  

“Okay,” Aubrey repeats, trying to conceal how relieved that makes her feel.  

“I try to do everything for them,” Stacie says softly, voice muffled as she buries her face in Aubrey’s neck again. “I pay for the twins’ school, I bought my parents a house, I always cover the trip to Greece so we can see my dad’s family, even when I can’t actually go myself and I take care of my family because I love them, and yet my dad will still find any opportunity to tell me how disappointed he is in me for throwing away my academic career.”  

“For fame and money,” Aubrey fills in and Stacie nods.  

“He doesn’t see how much I love acting, he only focuses on his dream not being fulfilled again because I’m apparently addicted to the glitz and glamour. And it’s so easy to get caught up in the fame, I’ll give him that,” Stacie says. “I get way too involved in what people think of me and in the adoration of the fans because it makes me feel so… wanted, in a way.”  

“You feel like you belong.”  

“Yeah. It doesn’t feel like I’m constantly trying to prove that I deserve to be here.”  

“Hey,” Aubrey says, shaking her shoulder to urge Stacie to lift her head and look at her. “You deserve to be here. The world would be a lot more boring without Stacie Conrad in it.”  

Stacie chuckles softly, hand reaching up to wipe away the worst of her tears as she sniffles, smile shaky but present.  

Aubrey’s looking at her earnestly, expression open and soft and Stacie can’t help but believe her adamant words and she’s about to lean in for a kiss when the oven timer goes off, surprising them both and breaking them away from their tight embrace.  

“Go get your cakes and make some frosting,” Aubrey commands lightly, hand drifting down Stacie’s arm and sliding her fingers between Stacie’s, squeezing her hand reassuringly before lifting their joined hands and softly kissing Stacie’s knuckles.  

 

* * *

 

“What are you doing after you wrap filming for Conquest?” Stacie asks even though her eyes are still on her script.  

“I don’t know. My agent is trying to talk me into doing tv,” Aubrey says and Stacie immediately scoffs.  

“You’d never,” she says with a laugh as her eyes remain on her script.  

“I could,” Aubrey argues petulantly, crossing her arms and trying to glare at Stacie but being entirely inefficient as the woman isn’t looking at her.  

“You’re a total snob, baby. You’re never going back.”  

“I came from tv,” Aubrey says.  

“You haven’t done television since you were fourteen,” Stacie says.  

“I did a miniseries.”  

Stacie finally puts down her script, shoots Aubrey a sceptical look. “It was an anthology at best and that’s the closest you’re gonna get.”  

“I might do it just to spite you,” Aubrey says teasingly and Stacie grins widely at that.  

“At least you’d be doing what your agent wants,” Stacie says cheekily and Aubrey groans as she realises the fallacy in her argument, shoulders slumping in defeat.  

“Ugh.”  

“For someone who came from television, you sure are against it,” Stacie notes.  

“One of the main things I remember from East Wing was working long hours and being tired all the time, and that was when I was on a kids’ schedule and that we were lucky we only did four seasons as planned.”  

“What do you mean with that?”  

“I don’t want to do tv because I don’t want to be attached to something that drags out to ten years or more,” Aubrey says and it’s something Stacie hadn’t really thought about so she considers the options.

“You could do a limited series. Like Big Little Lies or something.”  

“They already cast that,” Aubrey says and now Stacie knows she’s being contrary just for the fun of it so she groans loudly.  

“Come here,” Stacie says, hand stretched out to encourage Aubrey closer as the blonde stares at her in challenge.

“Why?”

“Because you’re being annoying,” Stacie explains but Aubrey just narrows her eyes at her. “And I want to kiss you to shut you up.”

Aubrey’s narrowed eyes turn into a proper Aubrey-patented glare as she pouts.

“C’mon Sunshine,” Stacie says, wriggling her fingers, daring Aubrey to refuse her.

“I hate you so much,” Aubrey mumbles, seconds before she crawls onto Stacie’s lap and lets herself be kissed hotly.

“You love me,” Stacie teases, wrapping one of her arms around Aubrey’s middle to pull her even closer as they trade slow kisses, Aubrey’s eyes fluttering closed.

“Yeah, I think I do,” Aubrey says softly, fingers dancing along Stacie’s neck but suddenly Stacie pulls away, halts them and Aubrey opens her eyes to meet Stacie’s wide green eyes. “What?”

“You love me?”

Aubrey feels panic grip her as she realises what’s just happened and she tries to pull away but Stacie doesn’t let her, tightens her arms around the blonde to keep her close.

“I won’t love you any less if you say no,” Stacie blurts out in an effort to keep Aubrey from scrambling out of her lap and when Aubrey stills and stares at her quizzically, Stacie’s eyes close in embarrassment at her own terribly delivered admission.

“You love me?”

“Why is that so shocking?” Stacie can’t help but ask, fingers softly stroking along her spine.

Aubrey shakes her head, shrugs one shoulder and Stacie can see her try not to let her insecurities take over.

“I love you,” Stacie says, nodding slightly as she holds Aubrey’s gaze.

“That’s nice,” Aubrey teases, and Stacie rolls her eyes in exasperation, pokes her side and making Aubrey squeal.

“You bitch,” Stacie says with a wide smile that Aubrey mirrors.

“I love you too,” Aubrey finally says.

“Good,” Stacie responds and she can tell that Aubrey wants to tease her again so she just surges forward and kisses her slowly and deeply.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave me beautiful and/or incoherent comments bc I love them and I need them to live


	4. Lovers, part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this one took so long — I've been crazy swamped with work but it's here!  
> Enjoy!

**Aubrey Posen** And **Stacie Conrad** Aren’t Breaking Up, Nor Are They Rushing To Get Married — Here’s Where Things Stand (For Now)

Don’t count on Aubrey Posen and Stacie Conrad getting married any time soon!!

And, also, don’t expect them to break up any time soon, either — goodness knows THOSE ( **false** ) stories have made the rounds lately.

In fact, instead of expecting either thing to come true, maybe we should all just let their relationship ride out as is — because insiders say the pair is happy together as they are, and they may NEVER get married, if they don’t feel like it!

Aubrey and Stacie allegedly believe “ _the formality of marriage isn’t important,_ ” according to insiders.

In other words, they don’t need a piece of paper to prove their love to each other.

A source told TMZ that the pair already acts like a married couple and is as tight as can be, saying “ _they’re both super chill and grounded. They’re perfect for each other_.”

So why fuck with that?!

What do U think, Perezcious readers?!

Is it weird/strange/a big deal/a bad sign that Aubrey and Stacie don’t want to get officially hitched? Or, if they’re happy, are they fine right where they’re at right now??

 

_**___**-**___**_ **Perez Hilton** , April 2018

 

* * *

 

“You’re leaving?” Stacie asks when she looks up to find Aubrey descending the stairs with her bag in hand.  

“You have to pick up the twins and I have to work tonight,” Aubrey says, dropping her bag at the bottom of the stairs and making her way over to Stacie.  

“But that’s not until later,” Stacie argues, shifting her legs out from under her and taking Aubrey’s hand, tugging her closer.  

“What time do they get in?” Aubrey asks, taking the hint and sliding onto Stacie’s lap, a leg on either side as she loosely wraps her arms around Stacie’s neck.  

“Five thirty,” Stacie says, smiling when Aubrey leans in for a soft kiss.  

“And I have a production meeting at seven,” Aubrey says with a wry smile when they pull apart and Stacie frowns.  

“So why are you leaving now?”  

“Because it’s going to take me more than an hour to get home and I don’t want to get there just to have to leave again.”  

“Stay,” Stacie pleads, arms wrapped tightly around Aubrey as she pulls her in closer, kisses Aubrey hotly.  

Aubrey moans into her mouth, hand reaching out to cup Stacie’s cheek and slightly tilt her head back for a more comfortable angle, sighing when Stacie untucks her blouse from her jeans and runs the pads of her fingers along Aubrey’s newly exposed skin.  

“Castle Rock is twenty minutes from here,” Stacie argues, pulling away to catch her breath and eyes fluttering closed when Aubrey tilts her head even further back and kisses over her chin and down her throat.  

“And you have to leave here at four to be at LAX on time so what am I supposed to do from four o’clock until six-thirty?”  

“Hang out here.” 

“And when I have to go I just leave the front door to your two million dollar home unlocked?” Aubrey teases, teeth scraping along Stacie’s pulse point.  

“Hey, my house is worth _two-point-five_ million,” Stacie says with a chuckle that turns into a strangled gasp when Aubrey bites down. “Just take one of the spare keys.”  

“You’re just gonna give me a key to your house, just like that?” Aubrey asks coyly, lips moving away from Stacie’s neck to brush against her ear teasingly.  

“Yeah, why not? I have one to your house,” Stacie says, turning her head into Aubrey’s and tugging on Aubrey’s earlobe with her teeth.  

“Yes, but I live far away, you never show up without complaining before leaving your own house,” Aubrey says teasingly, eyes fluttering closed to suppress a shiver when Stacie moves her hand higher under Aubrey’s shirt, rakes her nails down the blonde’s spine.  

“So?”  

“You live close by, I could just drop by any time,” Aubrey says, thumb sweeping back and forth across Stacie’s neck and causing the brunette to grip her harder.  

“That’s kind of the point,” Stacie says, turning her head enough to capture Aubrey’s lips in a greedy kiss, Aubrey’s fingers tightening in her hair as she moans into Stacie’s mouth.  

“You’re not afraid I’ll walk in on you doing unsavoury things?” Aubrey continues when they part. 

“‘Unsavoury things’, what are you, fifty?” Stacie teases but then Aubrey tugs at her lower lip with her teeth and Stacie moans softly, fingers pressing against fabric where they’re curled around Aubrey’s thigh. “At worst you’ll catch me masturbating.”  

Aubrey smiles at that, eyes fluttering closed when Stacie moves away from her mouth and presses her lips just under Aubrey’s jaw.  

“That’s not unsavoury at all,” Aubrey breathes, gasps when Stacie bites down on her skin.  

“I definitely don’t think so, I’m glad you agree,” Stacie says with a soft laugh as she licks at the spot she’s just bitten. “And if you do catch me, you’re more than welcome to watch and/or join.”  

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Aubrey says breathlessly with a sharp laugh that Stacie echoes.  

“Remember our brunch plans tomorrow?” Stacie asks and Aubrey nods. “If you have a key you can just come in when you’re done tonight and be here tomorrow morning. No long, excruciating drive home and back.”  

“I’m not saying no to the key, care bear,” Aubrey says, leaning in to kiss Stacie again. “I’d love to take it, just want you to know what you’re in for.”  

“Oh,” Stacie says plainly as she realises what Aubrey’s saying, snapping back into the moment when Aubrey whines against her lips and tries to kiss her. “Awesome.”   

 

* * *

 

“Good morning,” Stacie says cheerfully when Andy pads into the kitchen, still looking half asleep.  

He yawns and runs a hand through his hair as he smiles quickly at Stacie, and Stacie can’t help but laugh at how his attempts to tame his hair have only made it worse, locks of hair sticking up in every direction.  

“Morning,” he mumbles, voice still thick with sleep.  

“You’re up early,” Stacie comments as Andy slides onto one of the high stools to sit at the breakfast bar, propping his head up with his hand. “Did you sleep okay?”  

He nods with a small smile.  

“Allie still asleep?”  

“No,” he grumbles. “She’s up and getting ready.”  

Stacie laughs when she finally has the full picture, moving towards the refrigerator.  

“Allie woke you up,” she says, and it’s not a question but Andy still nods with a dark look.  

“Do you want something to drink? Juice, lemonade, water?”  

“Water, please,” Andy says around a yawn, head snapping up when he hears someone descending the stairs. “Who else is here?”  

“Aubrey,” Stacie says, dropping a glass of water in front of him, holding onto the pitcher of water as she watches Andy down the whole glass in one go, refilling the glass before returning the pitcher back to the fridge.  

“She wasn’t here last night,” Andy comments lightly.  

“She had to work late,” Stacie explains and he hums in understanding.  

“Morning,” Aubrey says, walking into the kitchen and shooting Andy a smile but bypassing Stacie to make a beeline for the coffee machine, pouring coffee into the mug that’s already there waiting for her and taking a sip, sighing.  

“Good morning,” both Andy and Stacie says so Aubrey turns to them, steps close to stand behind Stacie and wrap an arm around the brunette’s waist, careful to keep her hot coffee away from Stacie’s skin.  

Stacie melts into her, shifts back and Aubrey presses her lips to Stacie’s shoulder in a lingering kiss and Stacie’s eyes slide closed as a content smile makes its way onto her face.  

“What did you guys get up to last night?” Aubrey asks softly, looking between Stacie and Andy curiously.  

“We went to the Grove,” Andy says, lighting up excitedly and Stacie can’t help but smile.  

“I thought you hated the Grove,” Aubrey whispers into Stacie’s ear, fingers tapping lightly at her hip.  

“They love it,” Stacie whispers back, turning her head to see Aubrey’s endeared look.  

“What time is our brunch reservation?” Aubrey asks louder and Stacie glances at the digital clock on the oven. 

“We need to leave in an hour,” she says and Andy nods, downs the rest of his water as he slides off his chair to go get ready.  

They both watch as Andy disappears up the stairs before Stacie turns in Aubrey’s embrace, carefully plucking Aubrey’s coffee cup from her hand and setting it down on the counter behind her to then slide her arms around Aubrey as Aubrey sighs softly and leans in, hands sliding up Stacie’s arms and looping around her neck.  

“Sleep well?” Stacie asks and Aubrey nods. “What time did you get in?”  

“Three,” Aubrey admits softly and Stacie’s eyes go wide, hand stroking Aubrey’s back soothingly.  

“That’s so late,” she says and Aubrey shoots her a wry smile.  

“We got stuck discussing contracts and commitments,” Aubrey says with an exasperated sigh so Stacie just tightens her arms around the blonde, one of her hands sliding under Aubrey’s shirt to splay her fingers against the soft skin there.  

“You come out on top?” Stacie asks teasingly and Aubrey smiles. 

“Always,” she says, but then she has to duck her head to yawn softly.  

“That’s my girl,” Stacie says with a laugh.  

“I love you,” Aubrey says, lifting her head to meet Stacie’s eyes.  

“Good morning,” Stacie whispers in the same tone, pulls Aubrey in even closer and brushes her lips against Aubrey’s. “I love you too.”  

Aubrey smiles as Stacie presses her lips harder against Aubrey’s, kisses her languidly and Aubrey softly sighs into the kiss as Stacie sweeps her tongue across Aubrey’s lower lip.  

They’re just pulling away, Aubrey’s fingers playing with the short hairs at the nape of Stacie’s neck when they hear the telltale sounds of someone descending the stairs.  

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Allie says quickly when she catches the two embracing and she’s already turning away when Stacie calls her back with an amused smile and Aubrey doesn’t even have to hide her smile because Allie’s looking everywhere but at them, bumps into one of the high chairs as she moves closer.  

“I’m gonna go start getting ready,” Aubrey says after saying good morning to the teenager.  

“I’ll be up in a bit,” Stacie says, smiling when Aubrey leans in for a quick, lingering kiss before grabbing her coffee and walking away.  

“I didn’t mean to chase her away,” Allie says, worriedly looking over her shoulder at Aubrey’s retreating figure. “I didn’t know she was here,” she adds guiltily.  

“You didn’t chase her away,” Stacie says, easily dismissing Allie’s concern. “We were already done making out,” she adds with a wink and then Allie’s face scrunches up, nose crinkled in distaste.  

“TMI,” Allie says and Stacie laughs loudly.  

 

* * *

 

“Don’t go,” Stacie whines, curls tighter around Aubrey, fingers pressed against her ribcage to hold her close.  

“I have to,” Aubrey says, trying to sound firm but she melts back against Stacie, sighing when Stacie peppers kisses along the back of her neck and shoulder. “Baby you have to let me go.”  

“No,” Stacie says petulantly but she loosens her arms, not for Aubrey to slip away but enough for her to twist and face Stacie.  

Aubrey throws an arm around Stacie’s middle, fingers sliding under the loose tank top Stacie’s wearing to trace over the bumps of her spine, shifting closer and brushing her lips against Stacie’s.  

“What time is your rehearsal today?” Aubrey asks.  

“Not until ten,” Stacie says, smiles when Aubrey pushes her onto her back and slides on top of her.  

“Lucky you,” Aubrey says, leaning in for a kiss, stopping halfway when her hair accidentally falls onto Stacie’s face, reaching to push the strands away from her face and over to one side and Stacie shifts her hand to hold the strands in place as she cranes her head up for her kiss.  

“Nothing lucky about you leaving,” Stacie mumbles just before Aubrey kisses her deeply, moans into Aubrey’s mouth when the blonde rakes her nails down Stacie’s side.  

“I’ll be back Monday,” Aubrey says, smiles when she feels Stacie’s fingers curl around her thigh to hitch it higher.  

“Six days. I can do six days,” Stacie says, trying to convince herself and Aubrey can’t help but chuckle softly at how miserable Stacie looks when she repeats the words.  

“I miss you already,” Aubrey says as she leans in and brushes her lips against Stacie’s jaw.  

“Wait, so you won’t even get to see Allie and Andy anymore?” Stacie asks.  

“No, I already said goodbye yesterday when you were at rehearsal,” Aubrey explains.  

“Did you have fun yesterday?” Stacie asks, tugging Aubrey away from her neck to look at her with a soft smile.  

“We had a blast. I was worried they’d get bored on set but I almost had to beg them to go home at the end of the day,” Aubrey says with a laugh.  

“Yeah, Allie said she loved it.”  

“Andy let Jane put him in stage makeup and he took about a million selfies in front of the blue screen,” Aubrey says and then Stacie laughs loudly.  

“Sounds like Andy. What did Allie get up to?”  

“Shadowed me and was my runner.”  

“Helpful,” Stacie says and Aubrey nods.  

“Very.” Aubrey’s expression softens then, thumb tenderly smoothing over Stacie’s cheek. “They’re great. They really look up to you.”  

“Yeah, I know,” Stacie says with a wry smile but Aubrey’s fingers tighten where they’re cradled against her head.  

“Do you?” she asks and Stacie’s gaze flits away from Aubrey’s and it gives her away. “Do you have any idea how much influence you have on them? They admire you so much.”  

“No, they don’t,” Stacie scoffs with an eye roll.  

“Care bear,” Aubrey urges, waits until Stacie looks at her again. “All they do is talk about you.”  

“Yeah but it’s because they’re here and they’re hanging out with you,” Stacie says, shrugs.  

“Okay,” Aubrey says, drawing out the word and looking extremely sceptical. “You don’t have to believe me, but it is true.”  

Before Stacie can respond, Aubrey leans up and kisses her slowly, drawing it out with a smile, keeps kissing Stacie even as she makes a soft noise of protest.  

“You done?” Aubrey asks as she pulls away and she can see by the set of Stacie’s eyebrows and her tight grip on Aubrey’s thigh that she isn’t so before Stacie can even protest her earlier words, Aubrey kisses her again even though her lungs are burning.  

“Fine,” Stacie finally mumbles, head falling back against the pillow as she tries to catch her breath. “You might be right.”  

“I am right,” Aubrey says, chest heaving and Stacie tugs her lower for a quick, hard kiss. “What are the twins up to today?” 

“They’re off to the beach.”  

“And I have to go soon,” Aubrey adds, can see the pout forming on Stacie’s face.  

“I’ll be left all alone.”  

“But I love you,” Aubrey says, pouts mockingly and Stacie tries to stay petulant, tries not to give in but then Aubrey’s smiling down at her and she can’t help but crumble, eyes crinkling because she’s smiling so widely. “And when I get back we get four whole uninterrupted days together before you have to start reshoots.”  

“Just you, me, and your big ocean view windows,” Stacie flirts and Aubrey tilts her head quizzically.  

“Who said we’re spending those days at my place?”  

“You want to go away together?”  

Aubrey shrugs and Stacie’s smile widens. “Maybe.”  

“I love you,” Stacie says, fingers tightening in Aubrey’s hair.  

“I have to go,” Aubrey says with a teasing smile. “But I love you too.”  

“Why couldn’t we have stopped hating each other sooner?” Stacie asks loudly as she lets Aubrey go.  

Aubrey climbs out of bed, turns back when she hears the sheets rustle and finds Stacie propped up on her hand, laying on her side with the sheets pooled around her waist, her eyes trailing over Aubrey’s body with a coy smile and soft eyes and Aubrey can’t take her eyes off the brunette.  

“Curtains?” Aubrey offers as she finishes packing her toiletries in her bag, gesturing to the closed curtains.  

“I’m awake,” Stacie says with a shrug so Aubrey draws the curtains, lets the sunlight in and when Stacie groans, she quickly turns to face her, worried that it’s too bright but Stacie’s dropped back down onto the bed, arms splayed out as she smiles and basks in the sunlight.  

Her skin almost glows, hair a wild mess on her pillow and Aubrey feels her heart flutter at Stacie’s content smile. 

“We spent all that time together hating each other while we could have been kissing and now we kiss and we’re apart all the time,” Stacie complains and Aubrey laughs, stepping into a pair of jeans before turning away and taking off her camisole.  

“Ooh,” Stacie whispers, twisting her head to follow Aubrey’s movements and Aubrey looks over her shoulder with a coy smile that Stacie returns before letting her eyes trail over Aubrey’s bare back. “What a show,” Stacie adds with a low voice.  

“No time for a show,” Aubrey throws over her shoulder as she puts on her bra. “Sorry.”  

Stacie doesn’t answer immediately and Aubrey turns to face her, blouse in her hand and she smiles with fond exasperation when she finds Stacie staring at her as if in a daze, bottom lip caught between her teeth as she blatantly ogles Aubrey.  

Aubrey pulls on her blouse, starts buttoning it closed as she moves closer to Stacie who doesn’t feel an ounce of shame at being caught staring, lifts a hand to trail her fingertips over the soft fabric of Aubrey’s blouse.  

“You’re going like this?” Stacie asks, sitting up in bed as she pulls back her hand to run it through her unruly hair.  

“You have a problem with my outfit?” Aubrey taunts, tucks her blouse into her jeans, smiles when she sees Stacie roll her eyes.  

“You know I don’t,” Stacie throws back. “But you don’t exactly blend in like this.”  

“I don’t need to,” Aubrey says, appreciating Stacie’s concern. “I’m flying out of the private terminal.” 

“You’re a member?” Stacie asks, perking up, eyes going wide when Aubrey nods. “Why haven’t you taken me?”  

“We haven’t flown together.”  

“We did a whole press tour together,” Stacie argues indignantly.  

“And the studio arranged a private jet,” Aubrey counters, perching on the bed to put on her shoes. Once she straightens, she turns to Stacie, hand falling to Stacie’s sheet-covered leg and rubbing softly. “I’ll take you when we go on vacation together.”  

“That better be soon, then,” Stacie says with a smile, leaning in for a soft kiss.  

“Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to leave you right now?” Aubrey whispers when their kisses slow, her mouth brushing against Stacie’s and her breath washing over Stacie’s neck as Aubrey closes her eyes to calm her breathing and to muster up the willpower to leave.  

“You,” Stacie starts, pressing her lips to Aubrey’s cheek. “Me.” A kiss under her jaw. “Four days.” A scrape of teeth against Aubrey’s pulse point. “A still undecided undisclosed private location.” A kiss to Aubrey’s collarbone. “Yes?”  

“Yes,” Aubrey breathes, opening her eyes and sliding a hand into Stacie’s hair to tug the woman up, kisses her one final time. “I love you.”  

“I love you. Safe flight.”  

“Thank you.”  

“Text me when you land safely?” Stacie asks with a small smile.  

“Of course,” Aubrey gives. “Bye care bear.”  

“Bye sunshine.”  

 

* * *

 

Stacie’s laughing, arms crossed over the edge of the pool to keep her close as she talks to two women in lounge chairs. People are coming and going from the pool, so she doesn’t notice someone step in and wade closer, is looking at a talking Lina so she misses Jade’s gaze flicker to something behind her but then Lina ends her conversation with Stacie, turns to Jade.  

“Surprise.” 

Stacie’s eyes slide closed at the breathy voice as the words are whispered straight into her ear, an arm snaking around her middle and pulling her away from the edge.  

“What are you doing here?” Stacie asks, her voice soft and reverent and she wants to turn around but Aubrey tightens her arm around her as she steps closer and brushes her lips against Stacie’s shoulder.  

“I couldn’t miss Stacie Conrad’s legendary Presidents Day party,” Aubrey says, voice muffled by Stacie’s skin.  

“I thought you were in Austin until Monday,” Stacie says, twisting her head to try to capture Aubrey’s lips in a kiss but the blonde still has her mouth pressed against Stacie’s shoulder.  

“I was supposed to be but I can conference in for my meeting tomorrow so I came back early,” Aubrey says, finally relenting and loosening her arms on Stacie, lifting her head and the brunette doesn’t waste a second, turning in her embrace and looping her arms around Aubrey’s neck.  

“You came back early for me?” Stacie asks coyly, gaze flickering down to Aubrey’s lips as Aubrey splays her fingers wide against Stacie’s back, smoothing her hand along the skin and aided by the water.  

“Yes,” Aubrey admits, lips curling into a small smile as she tries to keep her cool, more than aware of the various groups of people surrounding them.  

Stacie’s fingers press against the back of her neck, rake her nails gently against Aubrey’s skin and even though the water of the pool is warm, Aubrey shivers and Stacie steps closer, moving completely into her space and pushing Aubrey up against the side of the pool. 

“I’m glad you made it,” Stacie says and in lieu of an answer, Aubrey surges forward and kisses her.  

Stacie smiles against her lips and tilts her head as she kisses Aubrey back, fingers curled around her neck, desperately wanting to tangle them in Aubrey’s hair where it’s up in a bun to keep the strands dry and Stacie’s fingers itch to loosen her updo so she trails them away, down Aubrey’s back, Aubrey’s own hands drifting dangerously low as her fingertips trail along the skin just above where Stacie’s bikini bottoms begin.  

Aubrey moans softly when Stacie nips at her lower lip, presses her hips against Stacie’s and slides her hands lower and squeezes and then Stacie’s the one moaning softly.  

Somebody lets out a loud wolf whistle and Aubrey whines softly when Stacie pulls away to identify the person who’d made the sound. Stacie twists her head and Aubrey drops her forehead onto the brunette’s shoulder to catch her breath, moving her hands up higher and back to safer territory.  

“Fuck off, Colin,” Stacie says, rolls her eyes and flips the man her middle finger as he laughs.  

“Just trying to remind you that you’re not alone,” Colin says with a lascivious wink that belies the truth.  

“Can’t I kiss my girlfriend in peace?” Stacie throws back, briefly glancing back when Aubrey presses her lips against Stacie’s neck.  

“There are children here!” Colin teases, holds his hands in front of Allie’s eyes and the younger girl immediately swats his hands away and punches his stomach.  

“You’re gonna mess me up,” Allie says distractedly, squinting her eyes. “Am I known for my philanthropy?” she asks and the group collectively shake their heads as Andy reaches out to smack Allie’s forehead to helpfully keep the post-it note with ‘Mickey Mouse’ scribbled on it in place.  

“Plus we’re already used to it,” Andy says, turning away from Allie to say the words to Colin.  

“That’s even worse! They’ve been desensitised,” Colin says scandalously and Stacie rolls her eyes but before she can answer, Aubrey lifts her head and cuts in.  

“Just because you can’t get a girl to make out with you doesn’t mean you have to pick on us, Colin,” Aubrey says with a smirk and an eyebrow arched challengingly and Stacie grins as she turns back to the blonde with an impressed surprise, arms tightening around Aubrey.  

Colin stares back at them with his mouth open and most of the people around them have fallen into a quiet hush at Aubrey’s sharp words, waiting for Colin’s reaction but it never comes and it’s Andy who breaks the tense anticipation with a loud choking laugh and a “Good one, Aubrey!”  

Aubrey winks at the boy as he gives her a thumbs up before turning back to Stacie who’s staring at her like she wants to devour her on the spot and Aubrey feels a flash of affection at the look.  

“You’re amazing,” Stacie whispers before kissing Aubrey harshly and the woman reciprocates happily, presses her whole body against Stacie’s as she digs her teeth into Stacie’s bottom lip.  

 

* * *

 

Stacie does a final check outside, notices the last few people still lingering and she doesn’t mind them sticking around, especially when Colin waves her away dismissively and she shoots him a grateful smile as she makes her way inside.  

She checks the twins’ bedroom, smiles when she finds both of them fast asleep, Allie tucked in bed and Andy on top of the covers, still wearing his boardshorts so she quickly goes to the closet in the hallway for extra sheets and throws them over Andy, turning off the light and closing the door behind her as she leaves.  

Stacie goes up the stairs quickly, smiles when she finds Aubrey sitting up on her bed, back against the headboard and legs crossed at the ankles.  

Aubrey smiles at the sight of Stacie, gaze raking down the brunette’s body, lingering on her toned stomach and the string of her bikini bottoms poking out of her low-cut shorts.  

Stacie lets herself be ogled, takes the time to trail her own eyes across Aubrey’s body because the blonde hasn’t put on any other clothes, is still only wearing her pale pink bikini.  

“You coming to bed?” Aubrey asks and when Stacie finally looks up and meets her eyes, she finds Aubrey with a half-smile and twinkling eyes, the challenge in her words clear so Stacie closes the bedroom door behind her and locks it before striding over to the bed.   

Aubrey smiles when Stacie wraps her fingers around her ankle, lets out a surprised shriek when Stacie yanks at her leg so she’s lying down in bed, laughs softly when Stacie crawls over her body. She waits patiently for Stacie to make her way up to her lips, smiling coyly when Stacie finally hovers over her.  

One of Stacie’s hands is curled around her hip, thumb circling over her skin softly, soothingly and it shouldn’t make Aubrey feel as warm as she is, but it does and she tries not to squirm in response, grateful when Stacie finally ducks her head down to kiss her.  

Aubrey sighs into the kiss, arm curling around Stacie’s neck to pull her whole body down, shifting her legs so Stacie can rest comfortably between them.  

“Have I told you how much I love this bathing suit?” Stacie mumbles against Aubrey’s lips when she trails her fingers along the fabric crisscrossing Aubrey’s collarbone.  

“No, but I haven’t told you how much I love _your_  bathing suit,” Aubrey replies, fingers flitting down Stacie’s back and flirting with the knot holding Stacie’s top in place.  

Stacie laughs, kisses Aubrey hard one last time before ducking her head away and pressing her lips just under Aubrey’s jaw, nipping at the skin there and Aubrey’s fingers dig into Stacie’s back as she drops her head back against the pillow with a soft moan.  

“You sure?” Stacie asks, voice mumbled against Aubrey’s neck and she feels the woman nod but Aubrey has a hand tightly curled around the back of Stacie’s neck to keep her in place, her other hand moving away from Stacie’s back and taking Stacie’s hand and urging it lower, across her stomach and to the edge of her bikini bottom. 

Stacie frowns, can feel Aubrey tremble softly and something feels wrong in her gut so she wrestles against Aubrey’s grip on her to lift her head and look at Aubrey, finds the blonde biting her lip and with her face scrunched up, tears leaking from her tightly closed eyes and Stacie’s blood runs cold at the sight, as if someone’s dropped a bucket of cold water on her as she rips away from Aubrey immediately. The abrupt action makes Aubrey’s eyes snap open in time to see Stacie scramble off her, horrified, and Aubrey whines softly, petulantly as she reaches up to stubbornly wipe away her tears.  

“Stacie…” Aubrey tries to reason but Stacie shakes her head sharply.  

“Did you think I wasn’t going to notice?” Stacie asks darkly.  

“I’m fine,” Aubrey says, propping herself up on her elbows as Stacie moves even more away from her.  

“No, you’re not. You’re not ready,” Stacie says, and Aubrey can see that she’s angry but the words are soft, reverent.  

“I’ll be fine,” Aubrey tries to say but Stacie shakes her head and her anger flares up even more.  

“Why do you keep doing this? You’re not ready.”  

“But you want to.”  

“Not if you have to force yourself to! That makes me so uncomfortable, Aubrey.”  

“You’ve been waiting for so long,” Aubrey says softly and Stacie frowns, hurt.  

“I don’t care. I would wait forever if that’s what it takes for you to be ready,” Stacie says softly.  

“No, you wouldn’t,” Aubrey says immediately with a scoff. 

“What?” Stacie asks, reeling back in surprise. “You think I’m in this just to have sex with you?”  

“No!” Aubrey says quickly, shakes her head but then she shrugs. “But nobody would wait around forever. People have needs.”  

“I have needs, you mean?” Stacie suggests, offended, and Aubrey stays quiet and it’s as good an admission of truth as if she’d said the words out loud and Stacie’s filled with outrage and hurt. “I don’t have a problem waiting. This is not at all something I have an issue with but it’s great that you seem to think that I do.”  

“That’s not what I’m saying,” Aubrey defends and she can see how much pain her words have caused. “I just don’t want you to resent me.”  

“So your solution is to, what? Force yourself through it for me? That’s the last thing I would ever want from you and it’s really fucking insulting that you think that.”  

“Stacie, no, I—” Aubrey tries to say, guilt settling heavily in her gut.  

“No, Aubrey,” Stacie interrupts before Aubrey can continue, her voice catching loudly as she tries her hardest not to cry. “I love you so fucking much and this is how little you think of me.”  

Aubrey’s eyes fill with tears and she opens her mouth to apologise but Stacie shakes her head, her shoulders curling forwards futilely as she steps away, reaching for a blanket and disappearing to her balcony.  

Aubrey knows she shouldn’t immediately go after her, knows that she needs to give Stacie some time alone so even though every part of her itches to go after the brunette, she doesn’t, crawls out of bed instead and makes her way to the bathroom.  

She takes a quick shower and afterwards changes into a pair of jeans and one of Stacie’s soft sweaters, desperately trying not to cry when she feels how warm the sweater is and how much it smells like Stacie, hating herself for how badly she’s messed this up. 

Stacie hears the door to the balcony open and she doesn’t even try to hide her tears, just curls deeper into the blanket thrown around her shoulders.  

“Please come inside,” Aubrey asks softly and Stacie can tell she’s been crying too but her stubborn anger flares up again.  

“No.”  

“Okay,” Aubrey says and Stacie frowns when she hears the door close again, not having expected Aubrey to give in that easily.  

She barely has time to spiral down that thought before Aubrey’s back, dropping a pile of clothes on the sofa next to Stacie with the implicit instructions to put them on.  

Stacie reluctantly lets go of the blanket when she realises how cold she actually is and Aubrey drops into the sofa opposite her as Stacie pulls on the warm sweatpants and hoodie before pulling the blanket around her shoulders again.  

“You’re completely right to be angry and I’m sorry,” Aubrey says softly once Stacie settles on the sofa again.  

“I don’t want to be right. I want you to understand why I’m so hurt.”  

“I understand.”  

“I don’t think you do,” Stacie whispers, hating that she believes it but needing to say it.  

“You deserve the world,” Aubrey says. “And I feel like I’m not giving you enough.”  

“Join the fucking club, Aubrey,” Stacie snaps. “Do you have any idea how much it hurts for me to know that you think I love you less because we don’t have sex?”  

“I don’t think that at all!” Aubrey says immediately, horrified by that train of thought. “I love you so much and I’m so scared of losing you.”  

“You think I’m going to leave because our relationship doesn’t include sex?”  

“I—”  

“Did I somehow make you think that I’m needy or frustrated?” Stacie continues in a small voice, desperation gripping her as she speaks, not giving Aubrey a chance to answer. “Is it because I’m always so flirty with you? Or because I’ve had sex with a lot of people? Did I do something to give you the impression I’m not crazy happy with you? I don’t understand what I did wrong.”  

“Nothing!” Aubrey finally yells, standing up and she wants to sit next to Stacie to reassure her but the brunette is crying as she curls even more into herself, her arms tightly wound around her legs as her chin rests on her knees and Aubrey knows Stacie doesn’t like to be touched when she’s feeling vulnerable so she reluctantly drops back down onto the sofa across from Stacie. “You did _nothing_ wrong, okay? You’re everything I want in a partner and you’re so supportive and you make me so happy and I _love_  you.”  

Aubrey has to pause for a moment, closes her eyes briefly to try to slow the tears but giving up quickly and opening her eyes again to make sure that Stacie’s looking at her.  

“You’ve never, ever done anything to make me think you’re frustrated or impatient or that you love me less because we haven’t had sex. This is all me, okay? You’re amazing and I want this with you so much, Stacie, and I hate that I’m having trouble with it and sometimes I think if I can just get through it I’ll be okay but that’s so unfair to you and I get that now. Please don’t think I’m forcing this because of something you did, I’m so sorry I made you think that, Stacie. I’m _so_  sorry.”  

“I’m not going to leave you, Aubrey,” Stacie says in a small voice, looking away to stare intently at Aubrey’s hands. “I don’t know how to make that more clear.”  

“You don’t have to,” Aubrey replies. “I believe you.”  

“Do you really?”  

“Look at me,” Aubrey softly urges and Stacie looks up, meets her eyes. “Stacie, I believe you.”  

“Then stop trying to force it.”  

Aubrey nods. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”  

“You don’t need to keep apologising,” Stacie says with a small shrug, reaching up to wipe at her wet cheeks as she glances away.  

“You’re still upset. You don’t have to forgive me—”  

“Of course I forgive you,” Stacie interrupts indignantly, looking at Aubrey sharply with a frown.  

“— _right away_ ,” Aubrey finishes pointedly. “You don’t have to forgive me immediately.”  

“Why are you pushing me away?” Stacie says, exasperation heavily colouring her tone.  

“I’m not,” Aubrey says strongly. “I promise. I’m just giving you some space.”  

“I thought we just made up,” Stacie says but she looks away from Aubrey as she says it, shoulders tense and that’s how Aubrey knows she’s right.  

“And you get to still be mad at me,” Aubrey gives. “Your hurt feelings don’t magically go away because I apologised.”  

Stacie doesn’t say anything, but her silence speaks volumes.  

“I know it’s late but I think I’m gonna go home,” Aubrey offers even though every part of her hurts as she says it.  

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” Stacie says, nodding once but she frowns, not sure how to feel about Aubrey’s words. Her chest burns as she follows Aubrey inside, watches her put on her shoes and gather her keys and phone. 

“Where’s my weekend bag?” Aubrey asks when she notices Stacie reach for her purse and hold it out for her.  

“You can leave it here,” Stacie says, trying to curb the panic in her voice but clearly failing when Aubrey turns to her with a soft look.  

“I am, I just need my phone charger,” Aubrey explains and Stacie can’t help but smile because she’s teased Aubrey before about only having one charger and constantly misplacing it.  

“Take one of mine,” Stacie offers and Aubrey nods so they go downstairs, Stacie quickly darting into the kitchen and coming back with a phone charger.  

“Thank you,” Aubrey says gratefully, taking it and her purse from Stacie, shifting them both into one hand so she can reach out and take Stacie’s hand.  

“Text me when you get home so I know you’re safe?” Stacie asks, stepping closer to Aubrey.  

“Of course,” Aubrey says, squeezes Stacie’s hand. Her voice is almost desperate when she says, “Call me tomorrow?”  

Stacie nods and Aubrey breathes a sigh of relief at that, almost deflating completely.  

“I love you,” she whispers, voice hushed so Stacie doesn’t hear how resigned and unsteady it is as she bites back tears.  

“I love you too,” Stacie says and Aubrey almost sobs when Stacie lets go of her hand but then she’s pulled into a tight hug and she melts into Stacie’s arms.  

Aubrey pulls away first, ducks her head to quickly reach up and wipe at her cheeks and when she looks up at Stacie, she finds a shaky smile there.  

“Night, Stace,” she says softly, pulling open the front door.  

“Drive safe, Bree,” Stacie says, voice thick and Aubrey glances back with a small smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.  

Stacie stands in the doorway and watches Aubrey get into her car and wave quickly at her and Stacie doesn’t close the door until after Aubrey drives off, pressing her forehead against it when the lock clicks and finally stops fighting the tears.  

 

* * *

 

“Hey,” Aubrey says softly when Stacie picks up.  

“Hey yourself,” Stacie says and Aubrey breathes a soft sigh of relief at the light tone, can tell that Stacie’s smiling.  

“I miss your face,” Aubrey says, trying for an equally light tone as Stacie but she knows she falls just shy of it.  

“Google Images has several pictures of my face. Some of them even include my body,” Stacie says teasingly and Aubrey laughs, rolls her eyes.  

“Not what I mean.”  

“I miss you too,” Stacie says softly once her laughter dies down.  

“How are the reshoots?”  

“Going pretty well. We’re about halfway so I’m two long weeks away from seeing your pretty face again,” Stacie flirts.  

“I wanted to fly up and surprise you this weekend,” Aubrey says then, trailing her fingers along her bedsheets in nervous circles.  

“‘Wanted to’?”  

“I wasn’t sure if you would want me to,” Aubrey whispers softly, closing her eyes as she tilts her head back against her headboard, hating how insecure she feels and how much she’s dreading Stacie’s response.  

“Aubrey…” Stacie breathes and she sounds almost pleading. “I’m okay. We’re okay.”  

“I know, I just…”  

“I’d love for you to come to Vancouver,” Stacie says emphatically.  

“Are you sure?” Aubrey asks in a small voice.  

“Yes.” Stacie can hear Aubrey let out a shaky breath at that and she hates how worried Aubrey is, how careful she’s being with her, how terrified she is of driving Stacie away. “Sunshine, I promise.”  

“Okay,” Aubrey says and she knows she doesn’t sound entirely convinced.  

“I really want to see you,” Stacie says.  

“I really want to see you,” Aubrey says back, smiles softly. “I won’t be disturbing you if I fly up this weekend?”  

“We have a night shoot on Saturday night but I’m all free on Sunday and my call time on Monday is at noon,” Stacie rattles off immediately and she can hear Aubrey start to protest so she continues, “ _Aubrey_.”  

“Stacie,” she responds in the same tone.  

“Even if all I get to do is sleep next to you and cuddle, I’d be happy,” Stacie says emphatically.  

“Yeah?”  

“Yeah.”  

“Okay,” Aubrey finally says, closing her eyes with a serene smile when she hears Stacie cheer softly.  

 

* * *

 

Stacie trudges towards her trailer, briefly regretting sending Ashley back to the hotel earlier because it means she has to go get her own stuff before going back to the hotel. The only thing keeping her upright is the knowledge of what’s waiting for her when she gets back to the hotel so she’s slowly, reluctantly going up the few steps and opening the door, frowning softly when she notices a lump on her couch.  

Hitting the light switch, her expression softens when she makes out the mess of blonde hair and the body covered with a blanket, smiles when Aubrey doesn’t even stir at the now brightly lit trailer.  

She shuffles over to the couch, perches on the edge as she tries to tug the blanket away but Aubrey has a firm grip on it.  

“Aubrey…” Stacie coos gently, running her hand over Aubrey’s back to lull her into consciousness.  

“Hmm,” Aubrey whines, curling even further into herself.  

“Wake up, sunshine,” Stacie taunts playfully.  

Aubrey frowns, her sleep addled brain not quite remembering where she is but the smell is familiar as is the touch on her back.  

“Aubrey, wake up so we can go home and go to sleep,” Stacie urges.  

“That makes no sense,” Aubrey argues, voice thick with sleep and her eyes still closed so she misses Stacie’s brilliantly wide grin.  

“It does because my bed at the hotel has space for two bodies and you’re a space hog,” Stacie says with a tired chuckle and Aubrey’s frown deepens.  

“No, ‘m not,” Aubrey says.  

“Yes, you are, plus I don’t fit on this couch with you,” Stacie says, starts running her fingers through Aubrey’s hair. “Open your eyes, gorgeous.”  

Aubrey whines pitifully but then she opens her eyes, looks dazed and sleepy as her stormy eyes meet Stacie’s bright green ones and Stacie smiles, hadn’t realised how much she’d missed Aubrey until right that moment.  

“What time is it?” Aubrey asks, basking in the warmth of Stacie’s smile.  

“Five thirty,” Stacie says and Aubrey groans, closes her eyes again. “Hey, no, don’t go back to sleep, I want to go home.”  

“Can I take the blanket?” Aubrey asks pitifully and Stacie can’t help but laugh, remembers how cold Aubrey always is. 

“Yes.”  

Aubrey swings her legs over the edge of the couch and finally sits up, leaning heavily against Stacie.  

“What are you doing here? I thought you were going straight to the hotel.”  

“I wanted to surprise you,” Aubrey says around a yawn. “Surprise,” she adds dryly.  

“I love it,” Stacie says with a sweet smile, getting up and grabbing her bag before extending a hand to Aubrey. “C’mon.”  

Aubrey reluctantly lets a hand out from where she has the blanket wrapped tightly around herself to take Stacie’s hand and follows the brunette out of the trailer and off the lot towards a waiting car.  

Stacie is grateful she’d let Mary talk her into taking off her makeup on set instead of back at the hotel when they make it through the door to her room and Aubrey slides into bed and Stacie can follow her, slipping between the sheets.  

“You still have your blanket?” Stacie teases as she turns to Aubrey to find the navy blue fabric still wrapped around her shoulders.  

“It’s warm,” Aubrey says plainly, staring up at the ceiling and Stacie suddenly understands what’s going on, why Aubrey’s still holding onto that damn blanket.  

“Aubrey, come here,” she says, arms spread invitingly but Aubrey just twists her head and looks at Stacie with a wry smile, not making a move to shift closer.  

“Stacie…” she starts, a flash of trepidation flitting across her face and Stacie hates how Aubrey’s still holding back. 

“Aubrey, please come here,” she says again and something in her eyes must convince Aubrey because the blonde discards the blanket and squirms closer, sliding into Stacie’s warm embrace and twisting so her back is pressed flush against Stacie’s front and Stacie wraps a firm arm around her middle to keep her close. “I’m so happy you’re here.”  

“I’m happy I’m here too,” Aubrey says and when Stacie lifts her head, Aubrey’s eyes are closed but she lets out a long sigh of relief, tension seeping out of her shoulders as she finally relaxes.  

“Good night, babe,” Stacie says, kissing her cheek quickly as she hits the light switch.  

“Good night, Stace,” Aubrey mumbles, sliding a hand over the one Stacie has flung across her waist and softly holding Stacie’s hand there with her own, sighing at how warm and safe she feels.  

 

* * *

 

“Why won’t you touch me?” Stacie asks softly, had noticed how much Aubrey’s been shying away from deliberately touching her even though she’s been leaning into Stacie’s touches nonstop, as if she’s been starved for them.  

“I don’t know,” Aubrey says with a shrug but she avoids Stacie’s eyes.  

“Did you know that you kiss me differently?” Stacie says and Aubrey frowns and stills at the sharp turn in their conversation.  

“What?” 

“I can tell when you’re acting by the way you kiss me,” Stacie explains, propped up on an elbow and watching Aubrey carefully.  

“How?” 

“I don’t know, I just know,” Stacie says with a shrug. “It’s different. Even when we did the intimate scenes for Scales, it wasn’t the way you kiss me now.” 

“Maybe I’m just a better kisser now,” Aubrey tries to tease, tries to lighten the tone but Stacie immediately shakes her head. 

“No, you kiss me differently in public.” Aubrey frowns then so Stacie adds, “It’s not a criticism, just an observation. It’s different when it’s just us.” 

“So why bring it up now?” Aubrey asks.  

“Because you’re kissing me differently again,” Stacie says pointedly and Aubrey feels a knot in her throat when Stacie shoots her a knowing look, feels guilty for being caught.  

“I’m sorry,” Aubrey whispers, worrying her lower lip with her teeth.  

“Talk to me, please,” Stacie urges and when Aubrey turns to look at her, she sees the honest and open expression there.  

“I’m struggling so much and I feel so guilty because I made you feel like a monster and I hate that I did that because of my problems,” Aubrey starts but the words confuse Stacie.  

“We talked about it, I thought we were okay,” Stacie says softly, reaching out for Aubrey when she avoids her eyes, pulls her closer and Aubrey leans into the embrace even as she looks at anything but Stacie’s eyes.  

“You left,” Aubrey whispers. “So I thought...”  

“I had unexpected earlier reshoots, I told you that,” Stacie explains, her brow furrowed as she tries to follow Aubrey’s line of thought.  

“You left without saying goodbye.” 

“Why would that—?”  

“You needed space and you said you were fine and then you left without saying goodbye on the days we were gonna spend together,” Aubrey amends and it suddenly clicks in Stacie’s brain, her eyes going wide as she freezes because she knows Aubrey is used to people saying one thing and then doing the exact opposite and she’s unintentionally added to that through her own carelessness.  

“Aubrey,” she says strongly to urge the woman to look at her. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she pleads but Aubrey still isn’t looking at her. “ _Aubrey_.” 

When Aubrey finally turns, her eyes are wet with tears and Stacie feels guilt settle in her gut, hates seeing her like this and she leans into quickly kiss Aubrey’s cheek.  

“It was all so last minute and rushed, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you immediately or say goodbye. Aubrey, I promise I’m not still upset about what happened.” 

“It’s okay if you are, I don’t want you to pretend to be okay because I have abandonment issues,” Aubrey says with a small frown that Stacie mirrors with a loud groan.  

“Why are you so frustrating?” Stacie mumbles to herself. “I was upset that you apparently thought you had to force yourself through it for me but you cleared that up when you said you were forcing it for yourself, which honestly is a whole other thing I want to talk about, but I’m not upset with you so please stop walking around eggshells on me and just touch me whenever you feel like it.” 

Aubrey smiles shakily at that, her eyes darting between Stacie’s to look for any sign that suggests her words aren’t sincere.  

“Okay,” Aubrey says, smiling softly up at Stacie, fingers tentatively reaching out and curling around Stacie’s wrist, thumb brushing against her pulse point.  

Stacie leans in and kisses her cheek, slowly drops back down onto the bed next to Aubrey and smiles when Aubrey immediately shifts closer to her.  

“I want you so much,” Aubrey whispers, fingertip trailing over the slope of Stacie’s nose and across her cheek lovingly. “I want to have sex with you so much like you wouldn’t believe.” 

Stacie’s eyes flutter closed at the touch, taking it in.   

“I just hit a wall, every time. When I’m alone and I think about you it’s all good but when I’m kissing you and touching you, I just...”  

“Hit a wall,” Stacie provides, eyes blinking open slowly to meet Aubrey’s, the wry smile on the blonde’s face not unexpected.  

“And I’d love to move past the wall but I have no idea how to and I haven’t had someone to do it for,” Aubrey explains but then Stacie’s eyes narrow at her as she bristles under Aubrey’s touch. “Someone I’ve wanted to do it for,” Aubrey amends quickly and Stacie settles again.  

“Do you want me to help you?” Stacie offers. 

“I don’t want to leave you sexually frustrated,” Aubrey says but Stacie sees the thinly-veiled concern there.  

“Don’t worry about me,” she says and Aubrey looks ready to protest it so she rakes her nails down Aubrey’s arm to elicit goosebumps as she grins and says, “Just the knowledge that you touch yourself while thinking about me will sustain me for _years_.” 

“That’s not what I said,” Aubrey argues but her cheeks are flushing red quickly and Stacie’s grin widens as she wraps an arm around Aubrey and slides her on top of her own body.  

“So you _don’t_ think about me when you orgasm?” Stacie flirts, hand slowly trailing down Aubrey’s back and she leans in to brush her lips against Aubrey’s ear. “I’ll remind you we’re building this relationship on trust and _honesty_.” 

Aubrey purses her lips when she realises she’s been backed into a corner.  

“It’s not going to be _years_ ,” she says petulantly, trying to move past their previous topic and Stacie chuckles softly and lets her, even as she enjoys the bright red blush on Aubrey’s cheeks and neck.  

“Let me help you,” Stacie says. “We can work our way from intimacy up to sex.”  

“I’d like that,” Aubrey says with a grateful smile.  

“And just to be clear, it’s not because I’m frustrated or needy—” 

“I know,” Aubrey cuts in sharply but her eyes are soft. “I love you so much, you know that?” 

Stacie grins as she tucks Aubrey’s hair behind her ears.  

“Good, because I love you so much too.” 

Aubrey leans in and brushes her lips against Stacie’s, slowly deepening the kiss as she settles against the brunette and Stacie happily lets Aubrey take the lead, lets herself be kissed and when they part for air, Stacie’s smile slowly unfurls into a wide grin.  

“I really love real-you kisses,” Stacie says and Aubrey ducks her head with a shy smile. “I prefer the real you.” 

“The real me yelled at you for a year,” Aubrey tries to argue but her eyes are twinkling with amusement.  

“And looked so hot doing it,” Stacie says with a lascivious wink and Aubrey laughs loudly.  

“You sure we’re okay?” Aubrey asks, but she doesn’t sound sad or worried, just wants a sober declaration and Stacie knows it.  

“If there’s something wrong you’ll be the first to know.” 

Aubrey smiles in satisfaction at that answer before leaning in for another kiss. “Good.” 

“Now, tell me about how you touch yourself while thinking about me,” Stacie says with a cheeky smile and Aubrey groans, drops her head into the crook of Stacie’s neck.  

 

* * *

 

Stacie quietly closes the front door behind her, toes off her shoes in the hallway and she stumbles on something and she doesn’t want to turn on any lights so she’s also not sure what she stumbles over but she soundlessly regains her footing and slowly makes her way up the stairs. The 7th stair is creaky so she hops over it, a triumphant smile on her face when she makes it upstairs without a sound.  

Twisting the door handle, she quickly slips into the dark room, making out a lump in bed and frowning when she sees that the curtains haven’t been closed and she briefly considers closing them before realising they might make too much noise so she creeps towards the walk-in closet and carefully sets her bag down on the floor just outside of it, turning back to the bed and starting to unbutton her jeans.  

“Hey.”  

Stacie jumps about a foot in the air, a curse falling from her lips before Aubrey’s quickly shushing her.  

“Fuck, Aubrey, you scared the shit out of me,” Stacie hisses as she moves closer to the couch, locating the blonde.  

“You’re the one sneaking into my bedroom in the middle of the night,” Aubrey points out and, well, she’s not wrong. 

Stacie shimmies out of her jeans and rounds the couch to find Aubrey curled up under a blanket.  

“What are you doing on the couch?”  

“Couldn’t sleep and I didn’t want to wake the girls,” Aubrey explains, lifts her blanket and Stacie quickly takes off her bra from under her t-shirt and slides onto the couch next to Aubrey, the woman curling into her.  

“You have girls in your bed?” Stacie asks teasingly, craning her neck to try and make out the shapes in Aubrey’s bed but it’s too dark so she turns back to look at Aubrey, the faint light coming in from the large windows enough for Stacie to make out her soft smile.  

“Evvie and Bella.”  

“Slumber party?” Stacie asks, trailing her hand softly over Aubrey’s bare thigh.  

“Something like that,” Aubrey says with a smile, wrapping her arms around Stacie and pulling her closer. “Wait,” she says suddenly, head snapping up to look at Stacie as if seeing her properly for the first time. “I’m supposed to pick you up from the airport tomorrow afternoon.”  

“I took an earlier flight. Surprise,” Stacie says dryly but Aubrey still laughs softly.  

“And you came _here_ ,” Aubrey says reverently, fingers trailing over Stacie’s cheek.  

“I missed you,” Stacie says, twisting her head to quickly kiss Aubrey’s fingers. “But if I’d known you were letting other people keep your bed warm in my absence…”  

“Welcome home,” Aubrey says, completely ignoring Stacie’s words as she slides a hand to cradle the back of Stacie’s head and pull her closer. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she says softly, leaning in and kissing Stacie slowly.  

“Hmm,” Stacie hums against Aubrey’s lips, shifting so she’s more comfortably pressed against the blonde as she kisses her back.  

“I love you,” Aubrey says when they slowly part.  

“I’d hope so, because coming back earlier and finding your bed occupied really suggests otherwise,” Stacie teases.  

“Oh my god, shut up,” Aubrey says, yanking Stacie back down and against her lips, teeth scraping over Stacie’s lower lip as she urges the brunette’s mouth open, hand sliding up her back under her shirt. 

Stacie makes a sound in the back of her throat and Aubrey smiles, trails her hand down Stacie’s back and slides it over Stacie’s butt, squeezing softly and then Stacie really groans, rips away from Aubrey’s lips to bury her face in Aubrey’s neck, teeth biting down at the skin there.  

She reaches out and pulls the strap of Aubrey’s thin camisole off her shoulder so she can press kisses along Aubrey’s collarbone and shoulder, fingers trailing down her side with just enough pressure to make Aubrey shiver.  

“Come to bed?” Aubrey says breathlessly.  

“It’s a tempting offer but your bed is already taken by girls not named Stacie Conrad,” Stacie teases.  

“God, you’re so annoying,” Aubrey groans, kicking at Stacie’s legs and trying to sit up to get away from Stacie’s heated touch but failing when the brunette refuses to budge, tightens her arms around Aubrey and surges forwards to kiss Aubrey hotly.  

“I love you too,” Stacie whispers against her lips and Aubrey wants to stay petulant, her stubborn nature hard to shake but Stacie keeps pecking at her lips, thumb tenderly stroking along her bare hip and she melts. “They won’t mind sharing you with me?” Stacie asks softly.  

“No,” Aubrey says with a brief smile and a shake of the head. “My bed’s big enough.”  

“It’s ridiculously big,” Stacie says, leaning down to kiss along Aubrey’s neck again, nipping at the skin softly as she makes her way down to Aubrey’s pulse point.  

“One day…” Aubrey starts, has to stop to gasp softly.  

“One day?” Stacie prompts.  

“When we have sex,” Aubrey tries again, voice low and Stacie moans at the raspiness of it. “We’re going to make full use of my big bed.”  

“And I won’t tease you about how big it is anymore,” Stacie gives in, but then she drops her own voice, brushes her lips against Aubrey’s ear. “Your bed, that is.”  

Aubrey moans softly, eyes fluttering closed as her fingers scratch at the nape of Stacie’s neck.  

“What are you implying, Anastasia Conrad?”  

“Nothing at all,” Stacie says innocently. “And calling me Anastasia reminds me of the nuns at Catholic school.”  

“I’ll stop, then,” Aubrey says. “Sorry.”  

“No,” Stacie says immediately and Aubrey’s eyes blink open to shoot Stacie a coy look, arching an eyebrow. “It’s kinda hot.”  

“That’s…” Aubrey starts and stops, not sure what she wants to say. “You know what? Let’s talk about kinks some other time.”  

“Agreed,” Stacie says, even though just hearing Aubrey say the word kink makes warmth settle low in her gut. “I love you.”  

“You already said that,” Aubrey teases and Stacie rolls her eyes.  

“I want you to know I mean it,” Stacie says and Aubrey’s teasing smile softens, fingers curled around Stacie’s neck urging her closer and Aubrey brushes her lips against Stacie’s in a soft kiss.  

“I love you too,” she whispers, afraid of saying it too loudly to break them out of the peaceful lull they’re in, and Aubrey’s never felt more comfortable in her life, being pressed into the couch by Stacie’s familiar weight with the light of the half moon illuminating Stacie’s exhausted but content smile.  

 

* * *

 

Stacie wakes up to the feeling of being watched. She doesn’t open her eyes just yet, can hear the two girls whispering to each other and she doesn’t want to face the bright sunlight streaming into the room so she smiles softly, keeps her eyes closed as she tries to make out the girls’ hushed words.  

Her resolve threatens to crumble when she hears them squirm closer and feels a small finger softly poke her cheek before an outburst of giggles from the two girls.  

With an exaggerated yawn and a twist of the body, Stacie slowly blinks open her eyes, making sure to theatrically blink in the bright light as she pretends to take in the scene near her.  

The two girls are curled up next to each other, hiding under the covers as they watch Stacie wake up, Evvie’s eyes going wide with excitement while Bella frowns softly, looks a little apprehensively at Stacie.  

Stacie makes sure to loudly stretch and yawn again, flopping down onto the bed and turning her head to properly look at the girls.  

“Oh, hello,” she says, pretending to only just see them.  

“Hi,” Bella says even though her voice is a little shaky.  

“Who are you?” Evvie asks then, pushing the sheets down her shoulders even as the younger girl keeps them up to her face.  

“Who are you?” Stacie counters teasingly, squirming onto her side to look at them more comfortably.  

“I asked first,” Evvie says with a cheeky smile and Stacie has to give her that.  

“I’m Stacie,” she introduces. “Now you.”  

“I’m Evvie,” the four-year-old says proudly, and then both Stacie and Evvie turn to the younger girl who still looks wary of Stacie. “Bellaaa,” Evvie prompts, poking her little sister.  

“‘m Bella,” she finally mumbles and Stacie smiles widely, her brilliant grin setting the little girl somewhat at ease.  

“It’s nice to finally meet you, Bella and Evvie,” Stacie says in a purposefully wondrous voice. “I’ve heard a lot of things about you.”  

“From aunt Bee?” Evvie asks, perking up and Stacie nods.  

“Yeah, she really likes you girls,” Stacie says with a playful wink and Evvie giggles at that.  

“Are you aunt Bee’s girlfriend?” Evvie asks and Stacie opens her mouth to answer when Aubrey beats her to it.  

“Yes, she is,” she says with a wide smile and Stacie looks away from Bella’s big eyes to meet Aubrey’s eyes, softening at the tender smile on Aubrey’s face.  

“Good morning,” Stacie says softly and Aubrey’s smile widens.  

“Good morning,” she answers and Bella finally looks away, squirms onto her back to look at Aubrey and the movement breaks the two adults out of their staring match as Aubrey turns to the toddler. “Bottle time, baby girl?” Aubrey offers, holding up the bottle of milk and that finally seems to spark action in the girl, who nods vigorously as she tries to sit up in bed, tiny hands already reaching out greedily.   

“Do you want to do it by yourself?” Aubrey offers.  

“No,” Bella says with a determined frown. “You!”  

“Do you want me to give you your bottle?” Aubrey asks, already moving closer and Evvie squirms away to make space for Aubrey on the bed.  

“Yes,” Bella says, her small voice adamant and Stacie can’t help but smile at the tiny determination.  

Aubrey slides back into bed, leaning back against the headboard and she’s barely settled when the toddler clambers onto her lap and settles there like it’s her favourite spot in the world, her head falling against Aubrey’s chest.  

Stacie finally gets a good look at Bella, blonde hair falling out of her braid as she holds tightly onto a floppy stuffed rabbit, her free hand idly playing with the zipper on her ladybug patterned footie pyjamas and she happily opens her mouth when Aubrey offers her the bottle of milk, drinks with pleasure.  

Evvie curls up next to Aubrey’s thigh, giggles when Bella starts tapping her foot against Evvie’s shoulder, reaches out to tickle the girl’s foot but Bella has already pulled back her foot in anticipation and Evvie ends up dropping her hand across Aubrey’s lap, fingers playing with the smooth fabric of Aubrey’s sleep camisole.  

“You a little hungry?” Aubrey asks softly, hand falling to the top of Evvie’s head and soothingly running her fingers over the girl’s head.  

Evvie nods, but then she curls up into herself, pulls her legs up under the large t-shirt she’s wearing, and upon closer inspection, Stacie realises it’s a shirt she’s seen Aubrey wear around the house, hadn’t been able to stop touching the soft fabric when she’d first seen it.  

“I’ll make us breakfast in a bit, okay?” Aubrey offers and Evvie twists to shoot her a happy smile that Aubrey mirrors.  

Bella whines and Aubrey turns her head back, sees that she’s gotten distracted and that the bottle of milk has tilted away from Bella and even though the girl can hold it up herself, Aubrey still smiles fondly and adjusts her arm so Bella can drink again, a quick “sorry” falling from her lips as she leans in to softly kiss Bella’s forehead.  

It’s a quiet and startlingly intimate moment and Stacie can’t stop watching them, heart lurching at the sight of how the two young girls seem to so deeply trust Aubrey and how incredibly calmed Aubrey seems by their presence.  

Aubrey’s gaze trails over the two girls before lazily looking over at Stacie, seems a little taken aback by how intently Stacie’s watching her but she adjusts quickly, her smile coy but her eyes twinkling brightly and Stacie can’t help but smile widely, reaching out with her hand to reach over Evvie and softly trail the pads of her fingers along the inside of Aubrey’s leg.  

“I love you,” Aubrey mouths soundlessly.  

“I love you too,” Stacie replies just as quietly but then her gaze flickers away, down to the girl in Aubrey’s arms. “I think she’s done,” she says quietly and when Aubrey follows her line of sight, she chuckles when she sees Bella frowning and trying to get more milk out of the completely empty bottle.  

“Well done, baby girl,” Aubrey praises, holds up the empty bottle and shakes it, shows it to Bella who beams at the compliment, claps her hands softly when Evvie claps her hands. “What do you say?”  

“Thank you aunt Bee,” Bella says with a loopy grin, swaying forwards and sloppily kissing Aubrey’s cheek before squirming out of her lap to go cuddle with her sister.  

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” Aubrey says, sets the empty bottle on her nightstand before crawling over the two girls, finds Stacie’s arms already open and welcoming as she curls up to the brunette. “Hi you.”  

“I know they’re not yours, but…” Stacie starts as Aubrey kisses her, the words dying on her lips as she leans in to kiss Aubrey back.  

“What?” Aubrey asks, palm pressed against Stacie’s chest to hold her slightly away, urging her to speak.  

“Do you have any idea how good you look with a kid in your arms?” Stacie finally says, a small blush creeping up her cheeks at the words but she doesn’t look away from Aubrey, stares at her head on, sees as a smile unfurls over Aubrey’s face.  

“Kids is maybe a discussion for another time,” Aubrey says, but her voice is low as she speaks the words and there’s a challenge there that Stacie can’t help but engage with.  

“But it _is_  a discussion we’re having?” she asks, fingers playing with the hem of Aubrey’s camisole. Aubrey pretends to not understand Stacie, tilts her head in faux confusion and Stacie’s more than happy to elaborate, nails raking across the skin of Aubrey’s lower back. “A talk about our future?”  

“Definitely.”  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> due to my poor planning skills this chapter has been cut into two pieces which means you get another chapter!  
> Leave me comments so you get it sooner ;)


	5. Lovers, part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is it guys!
> 
> I'm sorry this took so long; I took ages and then ao3 had struggles. 
> 
> Also, because of my poor story planning skills and just generally letting the story take over, let's pretend that the Oscars happen somewhere in May and _not_ in March. 
> 
> A major thank you goes out to youarefire/ptshiaestt for indulging my 3am messages and letting me ramble about ideas and my weird insecurities 
> 
> And I’d also like to thank all of you who left a comment or messaged me about this story: Seriously, this fic would not have been here without your continued support and I love you all <3

** The stars — they’re just like us: Aubrey Posen spotted flying coach & picked up by girlfriend **

Travellers flying into North Carolina’s Charlotte Douglas International airport were treated to a rare sight: A-list actress Stacie Conrad waiting by the arrivals terminal for girlfriend Aubrey Posen.

Conrad, in town to start principal photography on the newest, still untitled X-Men movie, wearing her usual LA attire of shorts and a t-shirt (presumably to deal with the humid June heat) was hard to miss due to the brightly colored balloons she was holding onto. 

Effectively crushing any speculation that their relationship is on the rocks, Posen was all smiles when she spotted her girlfriend and the two exchanged many kisses and hugs in plain view of the entire arrivals hall. 

It’s unclear whether Posen was in town for business or pleasure, but we know this much: this adorable pick up is enough to put even the most skeptic at ease regarding the rumors that there is trouble in paradise. 

[click here or see below for pictures of the heartfelt reunion]

And there’s more: Sources tell us Posen was supposed to fly LAX to CLT in first class but several travellers spotted her slumming it with the rest in coach while one person on Twitter claims to have seen the actress swap her first class seat with a military serviceman. 

Not hard to imagine, after all, Posen grew up as a military kid before starting out in Hollywood and who could forget tween Aubrey Posen constantly flying between Fort Bragg and Los Angeles with her mother while filming East Wing? 

We have reached out to Posen’s reps for confirmation and have yet to hear back. 

 

_**___**-**___**_ **Hollywood Star** , July 2018

 

* * *

 

“Thank you, Michael,” Sara Haines says to the camera, “I’m here with Stacie Conrad.” 

Stacie smiles politely when Sara turns to her. 

“You were in Tipping the Scales which has _six_  nominations tonight, plus your own very first Academy Award nomination; how does it feel to be at the Oscars?” 

Stacie’s smile turns genuine, she’d been expecting the question but her sentiment is still the same. 

“It is so insane, I just—I was feeling very sentimental about it this morning. I’m trying to keep it together, but like, the Oscars are essentially a religious experience. Just the fact that I’m here is completely surreal and let alone with a movie that I am so incredibly proud of. _Plus_  I’ve been nominated? It doesn’t even seem real. All of this is just more luck than a girl deserves. I’m so lucky to be surrounded here by all these people that I looked up to, that I still look up to and that I respect so much. I’m a little overwhelmed so I’m glad my date’s a veteran who can, like, hold my hand and guide me through it and remind me to keep breathing,” Stacie gushes, 

“You’re talking about Aubrey Posen,” Sara says, and Stacie knows it’s more for the viewers’ sake than her own. 

“Yes,” she confirms with a quick smile. 

“She’s supposed to be here holding your hand but where is she?” Sara says jokingly and Stacie has to laugh at that. 

“I don’t know!” Stacie says, and this time her emotion is genuine. “I’m floundering! I didn’t know that we needed to come up with a strict buddy system!” Sara laughs. “We got out of the limo and walked past the cameras and then suddenly we were separated.” 

“I’m sure you’ll find her soon enough,” Sara reassures with a quick hand on Stacie’s forearm and Stacie’s pout turns into a smile. “So you called her a veteran, and she’s also been nominated tonight; how does that play out at home?” Sara asks then, clearly wanting to dig deeper into Stacie’s relationship with Aubrey and she needs to remind herself to keep it reigned in, that she doesn’t want all of Hollywood in her relationship. 

“I definitely wouldn’t have called her a veteran if she were here, that’s for sure,” Stacie says with a laugh, going for a light tone as Sara laughs along with her. “No, but it’s great. It’s really nice to have her because she’s so supportive. I think she’s more nervous and excited for me than she is for herself. We’re doing great.” 

Sara smiles sweetly and nods and Stacie sees her gaze flicker to a producer just out of the line of the cameras. 

“Stacie, it’s been lovely chatting with you, thank you for stopping by. Good luck and have the best time tonight!” Sara says with a polite smile. 

“Thank you,” Stacie adds quickly, turns to the camera when Sara does to hand over to her co-anchor.

As soon as the camera turns away, Sara turns back to Stacie and gives her a quick hug. 

“You’re great as always!” she says and Stacie smiles. 

“Thanks, Sara. I love talking to you. Thank you for not prying,” Stacie gives and Sara waves away her sincere words. 

“We’re not the E! Network, Stacie, you know that,” she says with a wink and Stacie can’t help but laugh at that. 

“Still, I appreciate it.” 

“You should swing by The View soon to talk about your Kathryn Bigelow film,” Sara says cheekily, nudging Stacie. 

Stacie rolls her eyes and sighs exaggeratedly before breaking out into a smile. “Absolutely. I’ll talk to my publicist to arrange something.” 

“Amazing,” Sara says. “Go find your girlfriend.” 

Sara’s mockingly stern words make both of them laugh as she bids the woman goodbye and joins Ashley standing just off to the side, typing something on her phone. 

“Where are they?” Stacie says, not patient enough to wait for Ashley to finish texting. 

“Jessica says they’re between E! and the second bar, wherever that is,” Ashley mumbles and Stacie frowns as she looks around.

 

* * *

 

“Thank you, Ryan,” Giuliana Rancic says to the camera before turning to face Aubrey. “I am here with Aubrey Posen who is nominated for a best actress award. Aubrey, how does it feel to be back at the Oscars?” 

“It’s amazing,” Aubrey gushes, forcing herself through the words. “It never stops being overwhelming and we haven’t even gone inside yet.” 

She shares a laugh with Giuliana who is apparently all business today as she pushes forward. 

“Now this is your fifth nomination and you’re the youngest person to ever be nominated five times and if you win tonight, you would also be the youngest person to win two Academy Awards.” 

“Was there a question in there?” Aubrey teases, can’t help but let her snark show a little bit but Giuliana just laughs. 

“How does it feel?” 

“I started out when I was a kid and I’ve been so incredibly fortunate to get to work on great projects that have gotten this sort of recognition. It’s so jarring when I hear people say that I would break this and this record because it’s not just me, my acting doesn’t happen within a bubble; it’s really a group effort to get me good projects and so it doesn’t feel like I should be the only one getting recognition because it is a collective effort. It would be like that scene in Mean Girls where I break off the Oscar and give a part to my manager, a part to my agent, another to Jessica, even a piece to my girlfriend for keeping me sane.” 

Giuliana laughs at the analogy. “Please don’t go breaking your Academy Award!”

“God no,” Aubrey says immediately with a laugh. “I’m pretty sure the Academy would hunt me down if I did that!” 

“Now you mentioned your girlfriend,” Giuliana starts and Aubrey has a hard time keeping her smile because she knows how nosy Giuliana can get. “Where is Stacie Conrad tonight?” 

“She’s here somewhere,” Aubrey teases but she knows it comes out wrong by the twitch in Giuliana’s smile and the way her eyes narrow slightly. She knows bad acting when she sees it, and she can already anticipate the turn this conversation is going to take. 

“I would hope so since she’s also nominated!” 

“Something went wrong between the photographers and the start of the red carpet; I just lost her in the crowd. I could really use her by my side right now!” Aubrey says, hoping that it will be enough to keep Giuliana and the full force of the E! Network off her back but Giuliana’s fingers tighten on her microphone almost imperceptibly and Aubrey has to work hard to suppress an eye roll. 

“There have been some rumours about your relationship being on the rocks, and walking the red carpet solo sure is…” Giuliana starts to say but before she has a chance to continue, she’s cut off by somebody loudly calling out Aubrey’s name and they both turn at the voice, Aubrey already smiling at the familiar inflection. 

“I can’t believe we’re here again!” 

Giuliana, ever the professional, turns back to her camera to announce the newcomer, “And joining us now is Lucas Cavendish!” 

“Luke,” Aubrey breathes, relieved at the incredibly well-timed interruption as Luke pulls her into a loose embrace. “Thank you,” she whispers into his ear quickly and he winks at her as he pulls away. 

“Giuliana!” he says, turning to the woman in question and quickly hugging her as well. “It’s so good to see you again. I’m so sorry to be interrupting, but I haven’t seen Bree in years so I had to come say hello.” 

“There’s no need to apologise,” Aubrey says quickly, more than aware that they’re broadcasting live. “Even if you’re not quite the partner I’m looking for right now.” 

“I just saw your girlfriend two minutes ago,” Luke says, turning back to Aubrey as he hooks a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the red carpet behind him. 

“Did you say hi?” 

“No, of course not,” Luke says with a laugh that becomes louder when Aubrey turns to him with a quizzical look. “We haven’t been properly acquainted by you. It would be quite rude to simply walk up to her and introduce myself.” 

“That’s the opposite of rude, Luke,” Aubrey says with a sharp giggle, feeling at ease for the first time since being corralled onto the E! Network interviewing podium. 

“You Americans with your silly customs,” Luke teases. 

“You’ve lived here for twenty years,” Aubrey throws back with a laugh and Luke huffs but doesn’t answer, instead turning back to a surprisingly quiet Giuliana. 

“Sorry, I should let you get back to your interview,” he apologises and Giuliana shoots them both a tight smile. 

“It’s actually time for a commercial break,” she says. “Thank you both for stopping by,” she says to them before turning back to the camera, “And we’ll be right back after this.” 

When the cameraman holds up a thumb to indicate they’re off the air, Luke steps forward like the gentleman he always pretends to be and carefully touches Giuliana’s shoulder while he presses his other palm onto his chest.

“I really did crash your interview. I am so sorry.” 

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened,” Aubrey adds in her most sincere voice. “We haven’t seen each other in so long and I just…” 

Their remorse works because they’re both very good actors and Giuliana’s tight smile eases, her tense shoulders softening as she shakes her head. 

“Don’t worry about it, you two go catch up. Have fun tonight.” 

“Thanks, you too!” Aubrey says and Luke echoes the words as he leads Aubrey down the few steps back to the red carpet. 

“You’re a lifesaver,” Aubrey whispers to him as soon as they’re away from prying ears. 

“Of course,” Luke says with an easy smile. “I can spot that panicked look from a mile away.” 

Aubrey rolls her eyes but doesn’t argue the words, easing up considerably as she takes in the man in front of her. 

“What are you doing here?” she asks. 

“Reliving my teenage years, apparently,” Luke teases, nudging her shoulder. “Same red carpet, same Giuliana, same blonde girlfriend.” 

Aubrey laughs, shakes her head with fond exasperation. “I’m someone else’s girlfriend now, sorry pal,” she says, not sounding apologetic at all and Luke laughs. 

“So I’ve heard. I’m honoured to be the only boy Aubrey Posen has ever and will ever date,” he says mockingly, hand pressed against his chest and Aubrey laughs, reaches out to knock his hand away from the insincere gesture. “I wasn’t joking when I said I’d just seen Stacie, though,” Luke says then, voice softer as he points and Aubrey follows the line of his finger to where she can see her girlfriend stick out from the crowd. 

“CONRAD!” he bellows and Aubrey drops her forehead into her hand at how shameless Luke is as several people nearby turn to look at him for being so loud. 

Stacie turns her head at the loud call, smiling when her eyes fall on Aubrey. She quickly turns back to one of the assistants she’s talking with to excuse herself before making a beeline towards Aubrey. 

“Hi,” she says, arm sliding around Aubrey’s waist. 

“I lost you,” Aubrey says with a small pout and Stacie really wants to lean in for a kiss but Jeanine had cornered her and pointed a dainty finger at her and threatened her with violence if she messed up her “beautiful creation” also known as the makeup on Aubrey’s face so Stacie resists, instead cups Aubrey’s jaw and brushes her thumb across the blonde’s cheek. 

Aubrey’s gaze drifts down to Stacie’s lips as she sways closer, knows they can’t kiss but really considering whether not kissing Stacie was worth it. She shakes her head, as if shaking away the thoughts and says, “Hylda pulled me aside to talk to some producers from MGM and then I couldn’t find you anymore.” 

“Where’s Jessica?” Stacie asks with a small frown. 

“She and Nicole are talking to your publicist,” Aubrey answers.

“You’re all alone?” Stacie asks. 

Luke loudly clears his throat and they’re both reminded that he’s still standing there, Stacie turning to him with a questioning look while Aubrey shoots him a bored look. 

“Luke, this is my girlfriend, Stacie Conrad. Stacie, this is my ex-boyfriend Lucas Cavendish.” 

“British heart-throb Luke?” Stacie asks. 

“The one and only,” Luke answers, shakes her head before they both turn to Aubrey with cheeky grins. “You talk about me?” 

“Chloe called you that, not me,” Aubrey corrects, rolls her eyes. 

“Be nice to me, I saved you from the wolves,” Luke says with a faux-wounded tone. 

“Oh, no, you got hustled into talking to E! Network?” Stacie asks in horror, turning to her girlfriend. “I’m so sorry, I know you wanted to avoid them tonight.” 

“It’s okay,” Aubrey says with a small smile, touched by Stacie’s concern. “Luke saved the day and completely derailed the interview before it got bad.” 

“You need to find it tomorrow on YouTube,” Luke says with a laugh. “I hate to pat myself on the back—” 

“You love patting yourself on the back,” Aubrey mutters, but Luke just continues. 

“—but it was quite good. Giuliana lost complete control.” 

“Wow, you’re a pro,” Stacie says with an impressed smile. 

“Hasn’t Aubs told you?” 

“Told me what?” Stacie asks, glancing between a gleeful Luke and an exasperated Aubrey. 

“We were each other’s firsts,” he says in a conspiratorial voice as he leans in. 

“What?” Stacie exclaims, turning to Aubrey but the blonde is already shaking her head. 

“We didn’t have sex,” Aubrey hisses. “Jesus Luke, don’t say it like that.” Stacie still looks at Aubrey with interest. “First Oscars.” 

“We were fifteen, it was magical,” Luke adds, staring off into nothingness with a wistful smile and Stacie can’t help but laugh. 

“Seriously, Luke, what are you doing here besides being annoyingly charming?” 

“I’m here as Emily’s date,” Luke explains, finally sobering up. 

“What is a guy like you doing with a lovely girl like Emily?” Aubrey asks. 

“You know her?” Luke asks, and Aubrey wants to grin at his sudden apprehension. 

“I know her mother,” Aubrey says after a quick shake of the head. 

“You know Katherine Junk?” Stacie asks and Aubrey nods. 

“We met at a charity gala a few years ago,” Aubrey explains quickly. “It’s not really relevant. You’re dating Emily Junk?” 

“No,” Luke says, leaning in and dropping his voice. “Her manager wants her gay rumours to go away, so here I am.” 

Stacie laughs loudly at that as Aubrey tries not to smile too widely at Luke’s clear misery. 

“What is it about me that screams ‘the perfect man for a gay girl’? Honestly, Aubs, this is the third time I’ve been asked to do this.” 

“Third?” Stacie asks, eyes wide and Aubrey has to clamp a hand over her own mouth to not burst out in laughter. 

“Who’s the second one?” Aubrey finally asks. 

“Ingrid Nilsen,” Luke says begrudgingly, and Aubrey turns to Stacie when the woman gasps. 

“Beauty vlogger,” Stacie explains quickly and Aubrey nods.

“I’m so sorry, Luke,” Aubrey says, trying for as heartfelt a tone as she can and knowing she falls just shy of it when Luke shoots her a dirty look. 

“Lucas!” 

Luke turns to the voice, grimaces when he turns back to the two. “Duty calls. Aubs, lovely to see you again. Stacie, you’re really fun and it was great to meet you!” 

“Same same,” Stacie says with a smile, lets go of Aubrey long enough for her to hug Luke. 

“Don’t be a stranger,” Aubrey says with a smile and Luke smiles back with a quick wink before disappearing into the crowd. 

“So that was Luke,” Stacie says, turning to Aubrey. 

“That was Luke,” Aubrey says with a small smile. 

“You two really get along,” Stacie comments lightly as Aubrey slides her hand into Stacie’s. 

“Yeah, we do. I forgot how much fun he is to be around. He’s a great guy.” 

“Was he the perfect first boyfriend?” Stacie teases, fluttering her eyelashes and smiling dreamily. 

“He was!” Aubrey says with a laugh. “Under that cocky British façade is a total theatre geek. He kind of reminds me of you a little bit.” 

“So what you’re saying is that you have a type?” 

Aubrey doesn’t answer, but she doesn’t have to, the challenging set of her lips a dead giveaway. 

“I love you,” Stacie whispers, ghosting her lips across Aubrey’s cheek, careful not to get her lipstick on Aubrey’s skin. 

“I love you too,” Aubrey says, leaning into the embrace when Stacie tugs on their joined hands. “Where’s Ashley?” 

“Looking for Jessica and the rest of our entourage.” 

“Want to go inside, winner?” 

“Stop that,” Stacie growls and Aubrey just laughs, pulls her into the queue to go inside. 

“I’m prepping you.” 

“And what about you?” Stacie counters, sliding to stand behind Aubrey to avoid losing her in the crowd again. 

“What about me?” 

“You keep saying I’m going to win but you don’t talk about your own nomination,” Stacie gives. 

“It’s because I’m not going to win,” Aubrey says plainly, turning when Stacie drifts her fingers along Aubrey’s bare back. “What?” 

“What makes you say that?” 

“I just know,” Aubrey says, shrugs as if it doesn’t bother her. “Viola Davis has won every award leading up to this one and her performance was better. That’s an objective truth. In the same way that you’ve won every award and your acting was better than the other nominees’.” 

“You are something else,” Stacie says reverently, staring at Aubrey intently and she itches to lean in and kiss the blonde, settles instead for kissing her fingers and then brushing them down Aubrey’s spine. 

“You’re going to win, baby, and I’m not just saying that because I’m your girlfriend,” Aubrey says, heart fluttering at Stacie’s awed expression. “This is your night.” 

Aubrey reaches for and holds Stacie’s hand, lifting their joined hands to press a lingering kiss to Stacie’s knuckles as she feels the woman relax slightly. 

 

* * *

 

Aubrey had teased her about how quiet and dumbstruck she gets when she hears her name called out as the winner and for the first time since they started dating, Stacie considers that Aubrey might be right when she’d told Stacie to start preparing.  

She doesn’t hear anything after her name, doesn’t even stand up but Aubrey does and pretty much yanks her up, holds Stacie’s face in her hands and forces her to look at Aubrey.  

Her heart feels full, like it’s going to burst and Aubrey’s looking at her with that careful smile that she only has when they’re out in public, but there’s something in her eyes that’s different and Stacie almost finds herself drowning in them, until she makes out Aubrey’s lips, repeatedly calling out her name.  

“Try not to cry too much, okay, care bear?” she urges, leans in to kiss her quickly and it finally sparks something in Stacie as she comes alive, hears the thunderous applause of the crowd.  

“Yeah, I—yeah.”  

She makes it to the stage, tries her best to keep her emotions tightly packed and it all goes to hell when Mahershala Ali hugs her and hands her the golden statue, the weight a crisp reminder of where she is and what’s going on and when she turns to the microphone, she takes a deep breath and lets it out loudly and the crowd laughs, giving her a second to gather herself.  

“I want to first and foremost thank the Academy for this. When we were getting ready to come here, Ashley told Natalie to make sure to use the waterproof mascara because I was going to cry and I laughed. Ash, you get the last laugh once again. I have so many people to thank for my good fortune in this life. My manager Paul Nelson, Gian Luca, Jeanine, Elizabeth, I love you all. To Warner Brothers and Olivia Milch. Thank you to Bruce Berman and Scott Rudin for being… the cheerleaders for a movie that is about people and words and life and forgiveness and most of all, love. To Sebastian, our director, for being pure magic. To the cast and crew who showed up every day, with who I couldn’t have done without, you are all stars.”  

She looks down at the award and tears up again, getting choked up and she tries to shake her head to stay calm, to get through her speech. 

“To the people who taught me good and bad. How to fail. How to love. How to hold an award,” Stacie says with a shrug as she cradles the Oscar against her chest and a laugh ripples through the crowd. “My parents, my grandma, my brother Andreas and my sister Alexandra. I know you don’t like it when I call you by your full names but you’re not in trouble, I promise.”  

Stacie turns slightly, finally makes eye contact with Aubrey again and she gives up on any attempts to stem the flow of tears when she sees Aubrey crying, beaming up at her with so much love.  

“And oh captain, my captain Aubrey. My co-star in film and in life. I am so grateful that we get to take this journey together. I know you said not to cry, but I don’t know how I’m supposed to do that while I stand here and tell you how much I love you.”  

She sees Aubrey soundlessly say “I love you,” back and Stacie suddenly wants nothing more than to get off this stage and be with her, so she turns back to the audience for a final time.  

“Thank you to the Academy, thank you,” she adds quickly, turning away as she wipes at her tears and the crowd claps.  

She’s ushered off the stage by Mahershala and she turns to him with a grimace when he congratulates her again and hands her a glass of champagne.  

“Jeez, how’d I do?”  

“A lot better than I did last year,” he says with a laugh and it sets Stacie at ease. “Take as long as you need. It’s going to get a little crazy in there.”  

“Yeah, Aubrey tried to warn me about it,” 

Stacie nods, a little dazed as she sips from the flute, holds up the Academy Award and looks at it intently. “Wow.”  

 

* * *

 

“Can I kiss you now?” Stacie asks impatiently and Aubrey doesn’t answer her, smiles as she steps closer and reaches up to cradle Stacie’s face, leaning up and kissing her slowly.  

Stacie instinctually wraps her arms around Aubrey, breaking away with a laugh when Aubrey shivers, the cold of the golden statue pressing into her bare back.  

“Sorry.”  

“Congratulations, baby,” Aubrey says, pecks her lips again.  

“I couldn’t have done it without you. Literally,” Stacie says. “I’m sorry you didn’t get one today.”  

“Don’t be,” Aubrey says, thumb brushing over Stacie’s cheek. “I am so happy exactly like this.”  

“Yeah?”  

“Yeah.”  

Stacie presses her forehead against Aubrey’s and smiles, closing her eyes to savour the moment.  

“You should really go get that engraved before someone tries to steal it,” Aubrey says, fingers trailing down Stacie’s arm to her fingers, tapping gently on the Academy Award.  

“Let’s go,” Stacie says, shifting the golden statue to her other hand so she can hold Aubrey’s hand and lead her to the engraving station but Aubrey lightly tugs her back.  

“I’ll wait for you here.”  

“What? Why?”  

“This is _your_ moment,” Aubrey explains, tries to let go of Stacie’s hand but Stacie refuses to let her go.  

“And I want you there with me.” She frowns when it seems like Aubrey’s unwilling to budge, turns back. “Aubrey.”  

“Stacie.”  

“I don’t want to do this alone.”  

“I don’t want to intrude.”  

Stacie’s face softens at Aubrey’s words, can finally see the caution in her eyes and Stacie can’t help but roll her eyes.  

“Don’t be ridiculous, Aubrey, I want you by my side.”  

“Sure?”  

“Let’s go, sunshine.”  

 

* * *

 

“Do you still want to go to the Vanity Fair after party?” Aubrey asks, leaning in close.  

“I don’t know. Do you?” Stacie says.  

“No.”  

Stacie waits, but no explanation follows and Aubrey’s face is annoyingly blank. “Are you okay?” she asks once the silence stretches and she realises she’s not going to get more from the blonde.  

“Yeah, I’m great,” Aubrey says with a soft smile, leaning in for a quick kiss. “Just let me know when you’re ready to go.”  

“Are you not having fun?” Stacie asks, steering them away from the crowd as she leans in to whisper in Aubrey’s ear, eyebrows knit together with worry. “You sure you’re not upset about not winning? It’s okay if you are. Just say the word and we’ll go.”  

“No!” Aubrey protests immediately, reaching for Stacie’s free hand and holding it tightly. “Nothing like that.”  

“Sure?” Stacie asks, still looking wary, gaze flickering between Aubrey’s eyes to look for any sign that Aubrey’s pretending to be okay for her sake and Aubrey recognises Stacie’s piercing look, her heart warming at the considerate nature and now she’s even more sure of her decision.  

“Yeah, I…” Aubrey’s eyes flit down to Stacie’s lips before glancing around to make sure nobody can hear them. “You’re leaving tomorrow.”  

“You wanna say a proper goodbye?” Stacie flirts, fingers grazing Aubrey’s hip.  

“Yes.”  

“What?” Stacie croaks out, not having expected that answer and being completely caught off guard and something about the way Stacie seems frozen in a daze gives Aubrey the confidence she needs to surge forwards and kiss Stacie hotly, tongue licking into her mouth insistently in a kiss that’s as far from chaste as they’ve ever gotten in public.  

“I’m going to have sex with you tonight,” Aubrey says when they pull apart enough to breathe, her words whispered in the space between them, her lips brushing against Stacie’s as she speaks and Stacie’s fingers twitch where they’re curled around Aubrey’s hip. “So just let me know when you’re ready to go home,” Aubrey adds, voice warm and melodic and Stacie shivers when Aubrey steps away and out of Stacie’s embrace.  

“Conrad!”  

Stacie’s head whips up at her surname, looking around for the source of the voice and when she can’t immediately find it, she turns back to Aubrey, still surprised at her words.  

“You’re going to catch flies,” Aubrey says cheekily, reaching up with her index finger under Stacie’s chin to close her mouth.  

“I hate you so much right now,” Stacie growls into Aubrey’s ear but the needy tone belies how she really feels and Aubrey simply glances at her with a coy smile, turning away to face the room.  

“Stacie Conrad.”  

“Beca Mitchell,” Stacie says with a large smile when she finally spots the short brunette. “I thought this was a party for winners.” 

“Oh, you didn’t see me get my Oscar?” Beca throws back, holds up her statue.  

“No, sorry, I was too busy partying backstage with real winners,” Stacie counters.  

“I’ll remember that when I’m lugging home bags of Grammys next year,” Beca says with a shrug and they’re staring at each other fiercely.  

Stacie breaks first, laughs as she reaches out and engulfs Beca in a tight hug that she tries to fight against.  

“Hi Becs.”  

“Heya Legs,” Beca says back, voice muffled because she’s still being pressed in an all-too-tight hug. “Let me go, you freak.”  

“Congratulations on your Oscar,” Stacie says when she finally lets go of Beca.  

“Thanks. Who knew song arrangements would get me here, huh?” she says, holds up the Oscar and wriggles it side to side.  

“You’re a real rags to riches story,” Stacie says but then Beca tilts her head in confusion, Stacie just smiling as she waits to deliver the joke. “Or should I say mashups to arrangements.”  

Beca laughs at that, shakes her head with fond exasperation.  

“How could you say a bunch of beautiful things when you were crying onstage and make such lame jokes now?” Beca teases and Stacie rolls her eyes.  

“You thought my words were beautiful?” she mocks, touching her chest in a faux-touched gesture.  

“Whatever,” Beca says with an eye roll. “It was a nice speech.”  

“Did you cry? Did you shed a single tear? Were you touched? Did the great Beca Mitchell experience emotions?”  

Beca rolls her eyes again but doesn’t argue the words. “Seriously, congrats.”  

“Thanks,” Stacie says with a sincere smile. She twists to look at Aubrey, finds the blonde deep in conversation with an older couple so she doesn’t bother with introductions, especially when Beca waves dismissively as she turns back.  

“Go have fun with your girlfriend,” she says, putting emphasis on the last words and Stacie rolls her eyes but still smiles. “Text me next time you’re in New York.”  

“Definitely.”  

Beca dodges her when Stacie threatens to go in for a hug again and they share a laugh as they split up, Stacie turning to join Aubrey, hand settling on the small of her back. 

Aubrey quickly ends her conversation and turns to Stacie, already smirking when the finds the expectant gaze there.  

“Home?” Stacie offers, holding out her hand and Aubrey laughs and nods, slides her fingers along Stacie’s and tangles them.  

“Stacie!”  

“What now?” Stacie mutters under her breath when she hears her name called out and Aubrey giggles as she presses closer to Stacie. “Yes?”  

She turns and her annoyance completely melts away when she lays eyes on the redhead that had called out to her. “Amy!”  

“Hi honey,” the woman says, and Stacie happily hugs her and when they pull apart, the redhead holds Stacie’s face in her hands. “I’m so proud of you.”  

Stacie tears up immediately, touched by her sincere joy and she’s at a loss for words, glancing down when she feels Aubrey squeeze her hand.  

“Oh, uhm,” Stacie stammers, tugging softly on Aubrey’s hand. “Amy, this is my girlfriend Aubrey Posen. Aubrey, this is Amy Adams.”  

“Hi,” Aubrey says politely, holds out her hand and Amy Adams shakes it happily. “It’s so nice to meet you, I’m a huge fan.”  

“What a coincidence because I’m a fan of yours,” Amy says with a quick laugh. “I know you two were heading out and I just wanted to stop by and say hi and congratulate you,” Amy continues, briefly touching Stacie’s shoulder and Aubrey watches them closely.  

Amy Adams is clearly someone Stacie looks up to and admires and Amy seems to hold Stacie in an equally high regard, the level of affection she has for Stacie more than apparent. 

“I’m sorry we haven’t seen each other, I’ve been crazy busy,” Stacie says and she makes the mistake of glancing at Aubrey because Amy’s expression melts into a knowing smirk.  

“I bet,” she teases and Stacie tries to glare at her but it’s entirely ineffective because Amy just laughs. “When you’re finished… _working_  so hard, have Ashley call Marco so we can set something up, okay?”  

“I promise,” Stacie says with a wide smile and Amy pulls her into another tight hug.  

“Get home safe, you two,” Amy says with a wink and Aubrey and Stacie bid her goodbye.  

“You never told me you’re friends with Amy Adams,” Aubrey whispers into Stacie’s ear when they start making their way out of the Governor’s Ball again.  

“Yeah, we know each other,” Stacie says with a shrug.  

“She called you honey,” Aubrey argues as they make their way outside, waiting for their limo.  

“We were sitting next to each other at a luncheon a few years ago and hit it off. She read the Alana Jackson books before they were made into movies and basically gushed at me during the whole luncheon. It was so surreal; Amy Adams telling me how much she loved my movies while I was just staring at her like an idiot because I was, like, so in love with her,” Stacie says. “Anyway, we kept in touch and she helps me out when I need advice.”  

“She’s like your mentor?”  

“I don’t know,” Stacie says, frowning as she considers it. “Maybe?”  

Aubrey smiles at her but doesn’t immediately answer because their limo pulls up, and she gets in first, scoots further into the car to give Stacie space, helps to make sure both of their dresses are completely inside the car before the driver closes the door.  

“You’re so cool,” Aubrey murmurs as soon as the door is closed, pressing her lips to Stacie’s jaw and scraping her teeth there.  

Stacie moans softly, hand flailing out to the console to raise the privacy barrier and Aubrey laughs softly but doesn’t let up, lips trailing down Stacie’s neck and biting down on Stacie’s pulse point.  

Once Stacie hears the familiar click of the partition being fully closed, she wraps an arm around Aubrey’s waist and tries to pull her onto her lap, failing and laughing when the long skirt of Aubrey’s dress gets in the way and Aubrey breaks away with a breathless laugh.  

“Dammit,” Stacie says. 

“Careful, this is Dior,” Aubrey admonishes but then Aubrey starts hitching up her dress and she watches with dark eyes as more and more of Aubrey’s legs are exposed before she suddenly has a lapful of Aubrey.  

“Hi,” she says, dropping the fabric and dragging her fingers along Stacie’s shoulders to curl around her neck.  

“Hi,” Stacie says back, leaning in for a kiss that deepens almost immediately, eliciting a low moan from Aubrey as her hips roll over Stacie’s. “Maybe let’s wait until we get to your place?” Stacie offers, hands on Aubrey’s hips to still them.  

“Good plan,” Aubrey says but she leans in to kiss Stacie again and Stacie’s really bad at refusing her.  

“We can do plenty in the forty minutes it’ll take?” Stacie offers, one of her hands already sliding under Aubrey’s dress and drifting up the blonde’s leg.  

“Better plan.”  

 

* * *

 

Aubrey presses Stacie in the doorway, kissing her fiercely but then Stacie’s hands are pushing at Aubrey’s hips, urging her inside and Aubrey follows the direction, blindly locking the front door behind Stacie’s back before letting herself be led over to the staircase where they reluctantly part.  

When they make their way into the bedroom, Stacie sees that the curtains are still drawn and Aubrey makes no move to close them as she stands in front of her dresser and drops her bag onto it, turning when Stacie walks over to stand by the large windows to briefly take in the view.  

She can sense that she’s being watched and when Stacie turns to face Aubrey, the blonde motions her closer with a lazy smile so Stacie walks over, slowly turns Aubrey towards the dresser, standing behind her as they look at each other through the mirror.  

Aubrey reaches up to take off her earrings, leaning away to put them in their holder and once she’s back, Stacie’s fingers move to the zip of her dress, brushing the pads of her fingers over the skin there as she looks up to meet Aubrey’s gaze and wait for the okay. 

Aubrey smiles, nods once and Stacie curls her fingers into the fabric, pulling it away as her other hand reaches for the zip and slowly tugs it down, fingers following the trail of newly exposed skin, smiling when Aubrey shivers under her touch. 

She doesn’t take off the dress, just peels it away from Aubrey’s upper body, and letting the fabric pool at her waist as Stacie kisses along Aubrey’s shoulder and down between her shoulder blades, mapping Aubrey’s back to memory with her lips. 

Aubrey squirms when Stacie moves back up and nips at the back of her neck and Stacie lets her go long enough for Aubrey to step out of the dress and move away to drape it over a chair in her walk-in closet. 

She’s back quickly, pressed up against Stacie’s back, standing on her toes just to see over Stacie’s shoulder because Stacie’s taller even without the sky-high heels she’s still wearing and Aubrey has already stepped out of her heels. 

Stacie laughs softly when she feels Aubrey sway against her in a brief loss of balance and she gives in, toes off her shoes and Aubrey hums happily, fingers trailing up Stacie’s arms to find the clasp on the back of Stacie’s dress.

She quickly releases it and unzips the small zipper at Stacie’s back but the fabric doesn’t really budge, the wide straps just falling off Stacie’s shoulders as the dress pretty much stays in place.

Stacie can see Aubrey frown in confusion through the mirror so she turns, quickly kisses Aubrey.

“This is going to be _so_ unsexy,” Stacie says when they pull apart, crinkling her nose and chuckling awkwardly and Aubrey watches with growing amusement as Stacie peels the dress from her skin, lines of tape still stuck to her body as she shimmies the material down her hips.   

Aubrey takes the dress but doesn’t walk away just yet, watches as Stacie reaches up to the skin between her breasts and rips the tape off her body. Stacie flinches and so does Aubrey when the tape releases with a loud rip. The skin is red and Stacie presses her fingers to soothe the sting and Aubrey looks at her with sympathy. 

“Oh, Stace...” she says but Stacie just waves her away, shakes her head. 

“Nothing I’m not used to,” she explains quickly as she rips off another piece of tape. 

Aubrey shudders at the sound and turns away, doesn’t want to watch so she goes to her closet and deposits Stacie’s dress next to hers and when she’s back, Stacie’s skin is clear of the tape and only a few faintly red spots remain. 

No longer distracted by it, Aubrey lets her gaze trail down Stacie’s body, taking her in and she knows Stacie is doing the same. 

Stacie moves closer, hands hovering above Aubrey’s skin as she urges her towards the bed. The back of Aubrey’s knees hit the bed and she almost falls back but then Stacie finally touches her, palms warm as they grip Aubrey’s hips to keep her upright. 

Aubrey wants to touch, so she reaches out and curls a hand around Stacie’s neck, cradling her head as she leans in and brushes her mouth against Stacie’s, lips already looking to deepen the kiss and Stacie eagerly responds, lets her set the pace. 

She’s not sure who moves first but Stacie finds herself hovering over Aubrey, shifting her as they move higher up the bed, lips never parting for too long. Once Aubrey’s head finds a pillow, Stacie shifts, a leg on either side of Aubrey’s as she leans down to kiss the blonde. 

Their kisses slow and Stacie pulls away enough to look into Aubrey’s eyes, smile lovingly. 

“Hey,” she whispers between them and then Aubrey’s smiling, fingernails scratching at Stacie’s scalp almost involuntarily. 

“Hi.”

“Are you sure about this?” Stacie asks, expression open and earnest as her thumb strokes soft circles into Aubrey’s left hip. 

“Yes,” Aubrey breathes. “Yes.”

“If anything makes you uncomfortable or if you want to stop, please tell me,” Stacie urges and Aubrey nods emphatically. 

Stacie leans down and kisses Aubrey slowly, lips moving slower than before but setting a maddening pace nonetheless. 

Aubrey’s so focused on Stacie’s mouth working over hers that she doesn’t realise Stacie’s moved until the length of her body is pressed completely against Aubrey. She feels strangely safe and anchored by the weight of Stacie pressing her into the bed and she moans softly, hands grasping at the brunette’s back. 

Stacie tears her mouth away from Aubrey’s and she starts to complain, a whine forming in the back of her throat when Stacie kisses along her jaw and the column of her throat and the whine turns into a strangled gasp. 

Aubrey curls her fingers against Stacie’s skin, raking them up her back and then she hits Stacie’s bra, her hands moving of their own accord as she deftly unclasps Stacie’s bra. Stacie works with her, shimmies an arm out of the strap and lifts her torso enough for Aubrey to yank the garment down her other arm, moaning at the feeling of Stacie’s breasts pressed against her skin. 

“May I?” Stacie asks and Aubrey hadn’t even noticed her hand on the clasp of Aubrey’s bra but she’s eager for more skin contact so she nods distractedly and arches her back helpfully, her fingers trailing down Stacie’s side as she explores the woman’s body. 

Stacie manages to unclasp Aubrey’s bra in one go, easily pulling it away from their bodies and Aubrey is grateful it’s a strapless bra and that she doesn’t have to stop touching Stacie. 

Stacie returns her lips to Aubrey’s neck, kissing and nipping at the skin, smiling in satisfaction with every gasp she elicits, every soft tug of hair she receives. 

There’s a sharper tug then and Stacie looks up, finds Aubrey’s eyes dark with desire as she urges the woman closer and Stacie happily moves back up, kissing Aubrey harshly, all the softness of their previous kisses gone as she ravishes Aubrey’s mouth. 

Suddenly she feels fingers brush against her lower abdomen and before she can do anything, Aubrey slides a hand under fabric and between Stacie’s legs, fingers moving with a purpose and Stacie shudders, has to pull away from Aubrey’s lips to gasp at the unexpected surge of pleasure. 

Stacie drops her head into the crook of Aubrey’s neck as Aubrey firmly moves her hand between Stacie’s legs. 

“Fuck,” Stacie gasps, bites down at the crook of Aubrey’s neck. 

“Can you take off your underwear?” Aubrey asks, voice low and thick and Stacie realises she’s quickly losing control of the situation, powerless to stop it. 

Aubrey pulls her hand back to let Stacie squirm out of her underwear before she hooks a finger into the waistband of Aubrey’s own underwear.

“Go ahead,” Aubrey says when Stacie tugs gently to get her attention. 

Stacie hooks her fingers into the fabric and tugs the underwear down Aubrey’s legs, her lips kissing down the valley between Aubrey’s breasts, a straight line down to her belly button and even lower as Stacie pulls the fabric free from Aubrey’s legs. 

She’d love nothing more than to move lower but Aubrey’s urging her up again so Stacie shifts back up, settling against Aubrey and kissing her languidly. 

“Stacie,” Aubrey whines softly, voice a murmur as she shifts her hips impatiently, widening her legs and Stacie knows what she wants and she’s not in any state to deny Aubrey so she carefully kicks Aubrey’s feet further apart, moves her hips as she presses a thigh up between Aubrey’s legs, squirming until she hits the right spot and Aubrey keens, head falling back against the pillow. 

“Yeah?” Stacie asks and Aubrey nods. 

“Uh-huh,” she answers brokenly as Stacie starts moving against her, making sure to keep her rhythm steady, propping a hand next to Aubrey’s head so she doesn’t crash down against the blonde. 

Her other hand reaches down and curls around Aubrey’s thigh, lifting it and allowing Stacie more space to get a better angle. A flash of heat goes through Stacie when Aubrey plants her foot flat on the bed and uses the leverage to push up into Stacie’s body. 

Stacie picks up her pace, sharply rolling her hips against Aubrey’s, can feel Aubrey’s skin grow warmer and how she’s slowly building up to orgasm, her nails digging into the back of Stacie’s neck, her other hand fisted in the pillow under her head. 

Aubrey’s body moves in time with Stacie’s, breathing stunted and gasping at every roll of Stacie’s hips and she’s so close, just needs a little bit more. 

“Stacie...” Aubrey whines but she doesn’t know what she’s asking for even as her body arches up against Stacie. 

“I know, baby,” Stacie breathes, trailing her hand up from Aubrey’s thigh in the space between their bodies to press Aubrey back into the mattress, moving her hand out of the way and dropping from her propped up arm so her body is flush with Aubrey’s, hips never stopping their rhythm and Aubrey’s cries grow louder. 

“Don’t stop,” Aubrey gasps. 

Their bodies are slick with sweat and it helps Stacie move against Aubrey more easily and she knows Aubrey is close, on the brink, so she grinds down hard, ready to push Aubrey over the edge but she can see Aubrey’s brow furrow, hears the pathetic whine bubble from the back of her throat and Stacie instantly knows what’s wrong.

“Hey,” she says, voice cracking with the effort of speaking and keeping up her rhythm, so she clears her throat. “Aubrey, open your eyes.” 

Aubrey whimpers in disappointment, shakes her head, tears of frustration pooling in her eyes.

“Don’t get in your head about it,” Stacie says strongly. “Baby, look at me.”

Aubrey’s eyes finally flutter open and Stacie smiles softly at her, a sharp contrast to the rough movements of her hips. 

“It’s just you and me, sunshine. Keep your eyes open, I got you,” Stacie whispers, presses her forehead against Aubrey’s, gasping softly at a sharp thrust and then Aubrey’s nails are dragging down her spine, digging into her back as Aubrey nods sharply, movements stuttered and Stacie can’t help but smile. 

Stacie leans in and brushes her lips against Aubrey’s in a breathless kiss that Aubrey tries to engage with but she’s too far gone and Stacie only has to roll her hips a few more times before Aubrey’s orgasm burns through her, ripping away from Stacie’s mouth as her head falls back and she cries out loudly, the sound stammering as her body trembles under Stacie. 

Stacie barely registers her own climax, so focused on Aubrey that she doesn’t notice she’s falling over the edge until she collapses against Aubrey with a loud exhale, lungs burning as her body shakes. 

Aubrey is breathing harshly, arm pressed against her forehead as her body trembles with the effort of getting her breaths under control. 

Stacie’s peppering kisses along her neck when she notices that the pattern of Aubrey’s shakes is turning irregular and she lifts her head, immediately concerned when she sees the tears in Aubrey’s eyes. 

“Whoah, Aubrey—” 

“I’m fine,” Aubrey cuts her off quickly but she knows she’s still crying so she tries for a smile even if it’s a little shaky. “I’m okay, I promise.” 

“You sure?” Stacie asks, reaching up to wipe away the tears, feeling somewhat calmer when Aubrey turns her face into Stacie’s palm and nuzzles it, her breathing relaxing as her body goes pliant under Stacie’s. 

“Yes.” Aubrey quickly kisses her palm before twisting her head back to look at Stacie. “That was really nice.”

Stacie nods, beams down at Aubrey so she slides a hand into Stacie’s hair, at the back of her head, and urges her down, kissing her languidly.

“Here’s the thing,” Aubrey starts as she nudges Stacie’s shoulder, gently pushing her onto her back and even though she can feel small tremors still shaking her body, she throws a leg over Stacie’s body and straddles her, dropping down to kiss Stacie.

“What?” Stacie asks, smiling at Aubrey’s assertiveness, her fingers already stroking over Aubrey’s thigh. 

“I need to confirm that this wasn’t a fluke,” Aubrey says, kissing along the side of Stacie’s neck. 

“A fluke?” Stacie asks for explanation even though she knows exactly what Aubrey’s hinting at. 

“I need to know that my orgasm wasn’t a one-time thing,” Aubrey whispers lowly into her ear, hips rolling against Stacie’s. 

“I definitely agree that we need to make sure we can replicate this,” Stacie says with a grin, sliding her hand up Aubrey’s side, thumb brushing against the side of Aubrey’s breast and eliciting a soft sigh. 

“I love you,” Aubrey whispers quickly. 

“I love you too,” Stacie says, leaning in for a surprisingly tender kiss. “Can I touch you?” 

“I thought you’d never ask.” 

 

* * *

 

Aubrey collapses back against the bed, arm flung over her forehead as she tries to catch her breath, body still shaking. 

“What are you doing all the way over there?” Stacie calls out, nudging Aubrey’s arm with her foot. 

Aubrey’s eyes are closed but she can hear the smile on Stacie’s face, considers sitting up but thinking better of it when Stacie rakes her nails along Aubrey’s calf and her whole body twitches so she tries to shift her foot away but her movements are jerky and she accidentally ends up kicking a pillow to the floor. 

“I need a minute,” Aubrey breathes out raggedly and she’d feel embarrassed about how hoarse her voice sounds if it weren’t for Stacie’s still trembling leg near her head. 

“But I want to kiss you,” Stacie says with a whine, lifting her head from the pillow to glance down the length of Aubrey’s body. 

“Then come here.” 

“You c’mere.” 

“I can’t move,” Aubrey groans. 

Stacie chuckles in response but makes no move to get up and then Aubrey laughs. 

“We need to shower,” Stacie mumbles after a long silence. 

Aubrey nudges her shoulder with her foot, props herself up on her elbows to look at Stacie. “You calling me dirty?” 

“Dirty _and_ debauched,” Stacie says with an exaggerated wink and Aubrey drops back down onto the mattress with a giggle. “No, I need to wash out the 5 pounds of product in my hair.”  

Aubrey hums noncommittally and doesn’t move, smiles when she feels the bed dip as Stacie struggles to sit up. 

Stacie drags a hand up Aubrey’s outer thigh, rakes her nails over Aubrey’s hipbone and Aubrey laughs breathlessly, stomach dipping as she tries not to shudder and Stacie catches it, splays her fingers wide as she smoothes them over Aubrey’s stomach. 

“You coming?” Stacie says and Aubrey’s eyes flutter open to meet Stacie’s dark green ones, eyes soft and full of affection.

“Hmm,” Aubrey says, lifting her arms over her head to stretch, letting out a soft groan as her whole body goes taut with tension and then slack as she drops back down onto the bed. “Help me up?” 

Stacie holds out her hand, waits for Aubrey to slide her hand into hers before tugging her up from the bed, yanking a little too hard and Aubrey sits up with a little too much force, shoulder crashing against Stacie but then Stacie wraps an arm around her middle to anchor her and their cheeks end up pressed together. 

Aubrey turns her head and kisses Stacie’s cheek softly, a whispered “thank you” falling from her lips as her fingers cradle Stacie’s head close, fingertips softly drumming against Stacie’s other cheek. 

Stacie smiles, twists so she can capture Aubrey’s lips in a languid kiss, moaning softly and pressing closer when Aubrey deepens it. Stacie’s fingers roam across her back and Aubrey kisses her even harder, slides her hand to curl around the back of Stacie’s head but when her hand moves into Stacie’s hair, she gets tangled and unintentionally yanks at Stacie’s scalp, making Stacie gasp and not in a fun way. 

“Ow.” 

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Aubrey says immediately, carefully detangling her fingers and brushing her lips against Stacie’s temple in an apology. “Shower,” she instructs once her hand is free. 

“You good to walk?” Stacie teases, curls her fingers and rakes her nails down Aubrey’s back and Aubrey tries to look annoyed but it’s ruined by her whole body shaking in response to Stacie’s motions. 

“Yes,” she says resolutely and Stacie pouts softly. 

“Then I haven’t done a good job,” Stacie flirts and Aubrey mirrors her smirk. 

“Shower?” Aubrey offers, fingers sliding down Stacie’s neck and along the skin between Stacie’s breasts. 

Stacie quickly reaches for and holds Aubrey’s wrist in her hand, stopping her movement before they get even more carried away. 

“Let’s go,” Stacie says, leaning in for a quick hard kiss and when Aubrey nods, she lets go of the blonde’s wrist and crawls out of bed, twisting her hand to hold onto Aubrey’s and tug her along. 

Aubrey closes the bathroom door behind them and they separate, Stacie to go turn on the shower as Aubrey walks over to the tall cabinet and starts pulling out fresh towels. 

“Do you need an extra one for your hair?” Aubrey calls out over the sound of the streaming water. 

“You know me too well,” Stacie says with a cheeky smile as she nods. 

Aubrey smiles, drops the towels on the small table by the shower door before stepping in and joining Stacie, closing the glass door behind her to keep the steam in and pausing there, taking a moment to watch Stacie tip her head back as she stands under the strong waterfall shower. Aubrey’s breathing slows as she trails her gaze down the woman’s body, follows the streams of water as they move down her skin before slowly looking up again and biting her lip, finds Stacie staring at her coyly, urging her closer.

Aubrey smiles, steps closer and melts into Stacie when she wraps her arms around Aubrey’s middle and pulls her so that she’s also standing under the strong spray of water, the heat soothing Aubrey’s aching muscles as she lets out a satisfied groan and Stacie smiles at the sound, dips her head to press her lips to Aubrey’s shoulder. 

“I think I’m in love with your shower,” Stacie says with a small moan. 

“So where does that leave me?” Aubrey asks, looping her arms around Stacie’s neck and leaning in to kiss Stacie messily, water still streaming over them. 

Stacie stares over her shoulder in contemplation, a grin slowly unfurling over her face as she sees Aubrey grow indignant. “It’s a close call but I love you more.” 

“What put me over the line?” Aubrey asks, back to her playful tone as she reaches out to turn off the shower. 

“You help me with my orgasms now,” Stacie says with a cheeky grin. 

“So yesterday my shower would have won?” Aubrey counters, shaking her head with a soft tut. 

“You’d have been equal,” Stacie says with a patronising look. 

“Not true,” Aubrey sighs. “On your knees.” 

“Bossy,” Stacie says but she drops down onto her knees with a small smile. “I like it,” she adds, trailing her hands down Aubrey’s hips as she goes and tugging the blonde closer once she’s down. “Love the view,” Stacie mumbles, leaning in to press her lips against Aubrey’s stomach, moving lower, destination clear. 

Aubrey moans and she wants to give in because she knows now how good Stacie is at that but, “Hm, no,” Aubrey breathes, completely lacking conviction and she knows it, so she nudges Stacie away from her skin and when Stacie looks up with a soft pout she smiles and steps away to reach for the shampoo bottle, shaking it to make her intent clear. 

“You’re gonna wash my hair for me?” Stacie asks reverently and Aubrey smiles, nods. “You’re the best.” 

“I’m pretty sure you are,” Aubrey says hotly and when Stacie looks at her curiously, Aubrey winks and Stacie understands the double meaning, grin unfurling slowly as she lifts her hand to curl around the back of Aubrey’s thigh and leans in to quickly kiss her skin. “Behave,” Aubrey says strongly but Stacie completely ignores her, kisses her hip. 

“What, afraid you won’t be able to concentrate?” 

“I already had to see you rip tape from your skin, the last thing I want is to also get shampoo in your eyes,” Aubrey says breathlessly and Stacie acquiesces, sitting back on her legs and pulling her hands away from Aubrey’s body with a soft pout. Aubrey starts lathering shampoo in her hair and Stacie’s eyes slide closed as Aubrey massages her scalp, alternating between nails and the pads of her fingers and Stacie has a hard time keeping her hands to herself and keeping herself upright, doesn’t want to crash against Aubrey’s body but desperately feeling like melting into a puddle at how good it feels to have Aubrey’s fingers running through her hair. 

Aubrey tilts her head back and holds the handheld showerhead out, rinsing out Stacie’s hair, running her fingers through the strands to get rid of the shampoo. 

“You definitely win out,” Stacie moans, reaching up to quickly wipe her eyes so she can look at Aubrey, finds a curious expression looking back at her. 

“Not yesterday I wouldn’t have,” Aubrey says as she starts lathering shampoo into Stacie’s hair again and something about the repeated words give Stacie pause and she falls deep into thought as Aubrey washes her hair. 

“What do you mean, the shower would have won out yesterday?” Stacie asks when Aubrey tilts her head back again to rinse out her hair. 

“Why do I win?” Aubrey repeats, trying to lead Stacie to the correct conclusion as she reaches for the conditioner. 

“Because you help me with my orgasms,” Stacie says with a slow nod. 

“I didn’t help you with your orgasms before today,” Aubrey says, starts running conditioner through Stacie’s hair and when she finishes, she turns on the handheld showerhead again and rinses her hands, shooting the spray of water at Stacie’s body quickly. “My shower would have won out yesterday.” 

Stacie quirks her head quizzically. 

“The shower can help you with your orgasms,” Aubrey whispers, leaning down quickly to kiss Stacie. 

“You know that for a fact, do you?” Stacie asks, excited smile on her face as she slowly stands up again, fingers trailing up Aubrey’s body as she goes before she wraps an arm around Aubrey and hauls her closer. 

“Mhm-hmm,” Aubrey hums coyly. 

“Has it helped you with yours?” Stacie asks, mouth brushing against Aubrey’s ear, tongue poking out to trace the shell.

“Yes,” Aubrey gives in, a little breathlessly. “But I have you now.” 

“Yeah you do,” Stacie flirts, tries to sound smug and confident but then Aubrey’s hand slides down her abdomen, between her legs and Stacie’s breath hitches loudly as the argument is all but forgotten, Stacie pushing Aubrey up against the wall and kissing her deeply. 

 

* * *

 

“God, I’m exhausted,” Stacie says, towel drying her hair as she makes her way back into the bedroom, tossing the towel onto her pillow before dropping face down on Aubrey’s bed. 

“Where’s that Hunter stamina I keep hearing about?” Aubrey teases, admires Stacie’s freshly showered body, the way her back curves, and brushing her fingers along the dimples in Stacie’s lower back before trailing the pads of her fingers up Stacie’s spine all the way to the base of her skull. “Have you just been bluffing all along?” Aubrey taunts, lips pressing against the base of Stacie’s spine and moving upwards, following the trail her fingers had just taken, sliding her body against Stacie’s back until she’s completely laid on top of Stacie, lips kissing along the back of Stacie’s neck. 

Stacie moans softly, turns her face away from her pillow as she revels in the feeling of Aubrey’s naked body on top of hers, reaches out with a hand behind her to grasp at Aubrey’s hip. 

“You wore me out,” Stacie whispers and she can feel Aubrey laugh but the blonde makes no move to get off her. “Baby…” 

Aubrey sighs softly before sliding off Stacie, settling next to her but staying close as Stacie curls an arm around Aubrey’s waist and cuddles up to her. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Aubrey says softly, reverently as she cups Stacie’s jaw, thumb brushing across Stacie’s cheek. 

A flicker of a smile ghosts across Stacie’s face as she curls her hand around Aubrey’s side to hold her close. 

“I could say the same about you,” Stacie returns in the same hushed voice Aubrey had used. 

“You’re incredible,” Aubrey says. “Thank you, for…” 

“Wearing you out?” Stacie teases and Aubrey tries not to smile, tries not to encourage her but Stacie can see the amusement in Aubrey’s eyes so she continues, “For screwing your brains out? Giving you multiple mind-blowing orgasms? Touching you in all the right places?” 

“You’re making it sound like I’m some pillow princess,” Aubrey tries to argue but there’s a soft blush colouring her cheeks and Stacie’s smile is brilliantly wide as she quickly pecks at Aubrey’s lips. 

“Thank you for the orgasms you gave me, Aubrey,” Stacie teases, leaning in to kiss Aubrey slowly, languidly and when she pulls away, her expression is softer, her eyes warmer as she presses her forehead against Aubrey’s. Her voice is sweeter, more sincere when she says, “You’re welcome.” 

Aubrey’s soft smile mirrors Stacie and she lets her hand trail down Stacie’s arm until she makes it to Stacie’s hand and she slides her fingers between Stacie’s, tangling them and holding her hand firmly. 

“I love you,” Stacie whispers, the words murmured against Aubrey’s lips and she can feel Aubrey’s lips tug up into a happy smile. 

“I love you,” Aubrey says. “So much.” 

Stacie smiles, presses her lips more firmly against Aubrey’s but then Aubrey turns her head away, a long yawn falling from her lips and Stacie giggles softly, fingers brushing down Aubrey’s side teasingly. 

“Who’s the tired one now?” 

“Don’t mock me, it’s been a while since I’ve had a workout like this,” Aubrey says petulantly, twisting so she can turn her back to Stacie but Stacie doesn’t let her get far, curls an arm around her middle and hauls Aubrey close again, lips already dragging along the back of Aubrey’s neck and she can feel Aubrey turn her face into the pillow to hide her smile. 

“No mock, just teasing,” Stacie murmurs against her skin but she lets up, shifts onto her back so she can sit up and reach for the sheets, pulling it over them. “Sleep.” 

“Good night, Stace,” Aubrey says, smiling and shifting backwards when Stacie turns onto her side again and wraps an arm around Aubrey’s waist. 

“Night, Aubrey.” 

 

* * *

 

“You’re watching me.” 

Aubrey smiles, sliding down in bed a little but still staying propped up on her hand, gazing down at Stacie. 

“I’m saving this moment to memory,” Aubrey says softly, reaching out and tracing Stacie’s cheekbone with the tip of her index finger, free to touch now that she knows Stacie’s awake. 

“How long have you been staring at me?” Stacie asks lightly, basking in the feeling of Aubrey’s touch. 

“Not long,” she says, but it’s a lie because she’d woken up early, with the rising sun and had spent all that time taking in Stacie’s features, the way her brow would furrow as she shifted in bed, how her fingers would reach out to keep touching Aubrey, the way her skin seemed to glow in the morning light. 

“What is it?” Stacie asks when she opens her eyes to find Aubrey scrutinising her, deep in thought. 

“Sometimes I feel like I don’t tell you enough how much you mean to me,” Aubrey whispers with a small smile, fingertips brushing hair from Stacie’s collarbone as she continues trailing them along Stacie’s skin. 

“That’s funny,” Stacie breathes and Aubrey’s mouth quirks into a puzzled smile. “Sometimes I feel the exact same way,” she explains and Aubrey’s eyes close slowly as she lets out a soundless laugh. 

Stacie’s eyes are green, the stormy shade they always are when she’s just woken up or when she’s really tired after a long day and there’s a slow calm in them that Aubrey loves seeing, Stacie’s long eyelashes brushing against her skin as she blinks slowly, a beautiful smile unfurling over her face. 

“I don’t want to detract from your beauty,” Aubrey starts and Stacie shifts, settling closer to Aubrey and looking up at her with interest. “But yesterday when I saw you in your dress with your makeup done and your hair in that perfect updo, I thought, wow, this is it, she doesn’t get more gorgeous than this. I thought that maybe the warm feeling I get in my chest whenever I see you would stop surprising me so much.” 

“Aubrey…” Stacie starts, her voice reverent but Aubrey shakes her head with a loving smile, hand reaching up and her index finger tapping at Stacie’s lips to urge her to stop. Stacie purses her lips in a quick kiss to Aubrey’s finger before relaxing again. 

“It’s just gotten worse,” Aubrey says with a wry smile. 

“Worse?” Stacie can’t help but say. 

“Better,” Aubrey says with a shrug. “I woke up this morning and you were dead to the world and you’re completely naked and you’re not wearing any makeup and your hair’s a mess and you’re drooling on my pillow and my heart still…” She’s not sure how to say the words, presses her palm to her chest and flutters her fingers against her sternum. “I am so in love with you.” 

Tears spring to Stacie’s eyes and Aubrey’s expression grows concerned as she slides her fingers along Stacie’s neck, cupping her face and urging her to look at Aubrey. 

“Stacie…” 

Her smile is shaky and she’s afraid of blinking too quickly lest her tears fall, but Stacie still turns into Aubrey and closes her eyes, overwhelmed by the tender words. 

“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Aubrey says with a small smile, still cupping Stacie’s face as her thumb reaches out to brush away some stray tears. 

“I’ve never felt about anybody the way I feel about you,” Stacie finally says, voice a little unsteady but she opens her eyes to look at Aubrey, to drive home the words. “You are the best thing in my life—the best _person_  in my life.” She watches as the gold flecks in Aubrey’s eyes seem to shine brighter in the morning light, smiles as she reaches up to tuck a lock of hair behind Aubrey’s ear, fingertips brushing against the skin behind Aubrey’s ear delicately. “I am so in love with you too.”  

Aubrey bites the side of her lower lip and Stacie can feel the way Aubrey’s fingers tremble as they move over Stacie’s skin so she turns her head and kisses Aubrey’s palm, turning back in time to see Aubrey close her eyes and take a shaky breath. 

When she opens them again, her eyes are a little glassy but Stacie’s not faring much better and then Aubrey moves her thumb to rest under Stacie’s chin, tilting her head up as she leans down and brushes her lips against Stacie’s, smiling when Stacie lifts her head for more contact. 

She moves even closer, presses her lips more firmly against Stacie’s and they quickly fall into a loose embrace, Aubrey’s lips moving over Stacie’s in a slow but deep kiss, the languid pace comforting as Stacie tugs Aubrey closer, lifting the sheets away so that Aubrey can slide on top of her without a problem, their naked limbs effortlessly slotting together. 

“Good morning, Aubrey,” Stacie whispers when their kisses slow, trailing her hand down Aubrey’s spine softly. 

“Good morning, Academy Award winner Stacie Conrad,” Aubrey can’t help but flirt, shifting her hips against Stacie’s, laughing softly when Stacie drops her head back against her pillow with a dazed smile, caused entirely by Aubrey’s words. 

“That still doesn’t feel real.” 

“You’re an Oscar winner, baby,” Aubrey says with a wide smile, pecking at Stacie’s lips until Stacie smiles widely and reciprocates. 

“We should celebrate,” Stacie says, her smile turning mischievous. 

“I thought we already did,” Aubrey teases, fingers playing with the wisps of hair at the base of Stacie’s skull. “For hours and hours.”

“Did we?” Stacie flirts, hitching Aubrey’s leg up so she can slide a thigh between Aubrey’s. “Remind me?” 

Aubrey laughs and Stacie swallows the sound with her lips. 

 

* * *

 

“This is some sort of cruel fate,” Stacie says as she rolls out of bed, glancing back at Aubrey wistfully as the blonde sits up against the headboard, bringing the sheets up with her to cover her chest, tucking them under her arms so that her hands are free. 

“What?” Aubrey asks, not ashamed of her outright ogling, watching as Stacie saunters over to the walk-in closet to grab a set of clothes. 

“That I finally get you naked and now I have to leave,” Stacie says and Aubrey blows her a kiss before Stacie disappears into the bathroom for a quick shower. 

She’s back ten minutes later and Aubrey hasn’t moved, still propped up in bed but now scrolling through her messages on her phone. Her gaze darts up when Stacie re-enters the room, expecting Stacie to be dressed, faltering when she sees that’s not the case, her mouth going dry when Stacie drops the towel wrapped around her torso. 

Aubrey’s biting down hard on her lower lip as she watches Stacie stretch, arms lifted over her head and standing on her tiptoes as she lets out a long mewl before relaxing and reaching for her underwear. 

“How do you think I feel?” Aubrey says, has to clear her throat when she hears how hoarse it sounds and Stacie turns to her, bra in hand and Aubrey’s eyes drop down to her breasts. 

“What?” 

“You’re not the only one who’s going to suffer through this long separation,” Aubrey comments, fiddling with the sheets. “I’m finally ready and I get a taste of insanely great sex with you and now you’re leaving.” 

Stacie’s expression softens when she sees the telltale pout on Aubrey’s face, lets her eyes take in the sight of Aubrey’s post-sex glow, hair messy and cheeks still a little red and she’s a sight that Stacie’s upset to be leaving behind. 

Quickly hooking her bra in place and shimmying into it, she grabs a pair of leggings and pulls them on before striding over and crawling onto the king-sized bed and straddling Aubrey’s lap. 

“It’s so hard to leave you like this, baby,” Stacie flirts, raking her fingers through Aubrey’s hair and watching with a smile as Aubrey lets out a satisfied groan, eyelids fluttering as she struggles to keep her eyes open, struggles not to drop her face into Stacie’s cleavage. “I promise we can have as much phone sex as you want.” 

Aubrey laughs at that, hands looping around Stacie’s middle and pulling her closer. 

“You know I have a week off between filming X-Men and the start of principal photography for Voyager,” Stacie offers. 

“What are you saying?” 

“If you don’t have anything to do that week, maybe you could fly out and we can spend the week not getting out of bed?” 

Aubrey smiles warmly. 

“I’d love that,” Aubrey says, reaching for her phone again and scrolling through her calendar. “What week is that?” 

“July 15 to 23,” Stacie says, looking at Aubrey’s calendar along with her, smiling when she doesn’t see anything blocked out. 

“Okay, I’ll keep that week free.” 

“I’ll text you as soon as I have my official schedule so we can coordinate flights,” Stacie says and Aubrey smiles, leans in for a kiss. 

“Perfect.” 

“Yeah, you are,” Stacie flirts. 

“I’m going to miss you these two months,” Aubrey says with a sad smile, fingers drifting over Stacie’s shoulder. 

“I am going to miss you too,” Stacie says, reaches up to brush some hair behind Aubrey’s ear and deepen their kiss. 

“Have fun at stunt bootcamp,” Aubrey teases and Stacie whines in complaint at the reminder of why she’s leaving, crawling off Aubrey to go and tugging the sheets gently with her. 

Aubrey smiles, lets Stacie pull the covers away from her naked body and Stacie whimpers softly at the sight, taking it all in one last time before she lets Aubrey tug the sheets up over her body to shield from the cold. 

“Next time you see me I’ll be even fitter and hotter than before,” Stacie says, buttoning up a red flannel shirt that looks extremely soft. 

“I can’t wait.” 

Putting on socks and pulling on a pair of sneakers, Stacie stands up and glances around, realising there’s nothing left to do, her bag already packed and ready to go so she turns and walks over to Aubrey, perching on the side of the bed. 

“Bye,” Aubrey says with a rueful smile, leaning in and kissing Stacie chastely. 

Stacie chases her lips, briefly deepens their kiss but doesn’t let it go too far, pulling away quickly. “Bye. I love you.” 

“I love you too,” Aubrey says, brushing her fingers against Stacie’s cheek softly. “Text me when you land safely?” 

“Of course.” 

Stacie gives her a final kiss before leaving. 

Aubrey’s barely heard the front door close behind Stacie before her phone pings with an incoming message, and when she reaches for her phone and opens the notification she smiles at the text from Stacie. 

_‘Already missing you. Love you_ _❤️_ _’_

 

* * *

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?”  

Jessica shakes her head with a small smile. “No. You go and have fun.”  

“You can still join me. I have a million miles and you’d look really cute in my clothes,” Ashley offers, kicking her bag closer to them so she can step in and stand toe to toe with Jessica.  

“You’re going to miss your flight,” Jessica says, even though boarding for Ashley’s flight is more than an hour away. “I will pick you up in four days.”  

“Okay,” Ashley says, reluctantly accepting Jessica’s rejection.  

“Bye,” Jessica says, snaking her arms around Ashley’s middle and pulling her close for a slow kiss. “Have a safe flight. I love you.”  

“I love you too,” Ashley says as she tucks Jessica’s loose blonde hair behind her ears, going in for a final kiss before she pulls away and reaches down for her bag.  

“Bring me back pralines please!” Jessica calls out when Ashley starts making her way over to security and Ashley turns and walks backwards so she can face Jessica and shoot her two thumbs ups.  

Jessica watches her walk away until she can’t see Ashley anymore, but instead of going back to the parking garage, she stands and waits, pulls out her phone from her jean pocket and scrolls through her Instagram.  

Sure enough, Ashley is back ten minutes later, standing in front of Jessica with a puzzled look.  

“Yes?” Jessica asks sweetly, putting her phone away and giving Ashley her undivided attention.  

“Did you just say you love me?” Ashley asks and Jessica has to bite her lip to not burst out in laughter.  

“Yes. And I’m pretty sure you also said it back.”  

“Yeah but because you—never mind,” Ashley says, shaking her head because she doesn’t want this to be an argument. “You love me,” she says, with a growing smile.  

“And you love me.” Jessica’s blushing but she’s smiling widely. “You made it all the way past security before you realised,” Jessica can’t help but tease, pointing to the security lines with a laugh.  

“Yeah, the TSA agent was so confused when I asked to come back,” Ashley gives and they share a laugh. “I just… wanted to confirm.”  

“Well, confirmed.”  

“I love you,” Ashley says with a cheeky smile.  

“I love you too.”  

“Bye for real now.”  

“Don’t forget my—”  

“Pralines! Yes, I know,” Ashley says with amusement, leaning in and quickly kissing Jessica goodbye for the second time.  

“Safe flight.”  

 

* * *

 

The first sign that Stacie’s up to something is when she refuses to let the bellboy take up Aubrey’s suitcase and drags it along herself. Aubrey’s not really in any state to argue with her about it, holding tightly onto ten huge balloons but she’s suspicious the whole elevator ride up. 

Stacie pauses in front of the door to her room and pauses, turns to Aubrey. 

“I need your boarding pass.”  

Aubrey frowns, puzzled. 

“I threw it away at the airport,” she explains. 

“Not your flight boarding pass,” Stacie says with barely contained glee. “The new one.” 

“What? What are you talking about?” 

“I’m sorry, I can’t let you in without a boarding pass,” Stacie says with a wry smile. 

“Stacie, I don’t have a boarding pass,” Aubrey says, almost whining. 

“Check your bag,” Stacie whispers quickly and Aubrey wants to argue because she knows Stacie’s holding her room key behind her back if the arm hidden behind her body is any indication. Aubrey glares at Stacie, who refuses to budge, smile transforming into a challenging look, eyebrow arching pointedly. “Bag.” 

She gestures to Aubrey’s purse and with a quick roll of her eyes, Aubrey lets her purse slide down her arm from her shoulder, transferring the balloons to that hand as she reaches in to search her bag. Her fingers brush against a hard piece of paper and she frowns, looking away from Stacie’s mischievous eyes to her bag, pulling out the piece of paper she knows she didn’t put there. 

“How did you…” She trails off as she flips over the blank boarding pass and finds the other side filled in with Stacie’s familiar messy handwriting. Her eyes flit over the words ‘ticket to romance’ and ‘destination: bedroom’ and she purses her lips, trying not to smile too widely and give away how amused she is by Stacie’s home-made boarding pass. 

“Did you see your seat allocation?” Stacie asks when Aubrey glances up at her with a sweet smile, wriggles her eyebrows suggestively so Aubrey looks back down at her boarding pass and under her name and date of birth, it says ‘seat: Stacie’s lap’ and she finally breaks, bursting into laughter as she clutches the boarding pass to her chest. 

“If I give this to you, will I get it back?” Aubrey asks, holding it just out of Stacie’s reach protectively. 

“Yes, I promise,” Stacie says. 

“Okay.” Aubrey hands the boarding pass to Stacie who pretends to closely look it over before smiling widely and offering the boarding pass back to Aubrey. 

“Right this way, ma’am,” she says in a level tone, finally opening the door to her hotel suite and letting Aubrey in, helping to get the balloons inside and trailing after Aubrey with her suitcase. 

Aubrey drops her bag on the nearby table, carefully tucking away her boarding pass as she steps out of her shoes, turning around to face Stacie with a smile. 

“Where’s my seat?” she asks coyly, but Stacie’s trying to push the balloons into the bathroom to keep them from drifting up to the ceiling and out of reach so she doesn’t hear Aubrey, turns to the blonde when she’s finally managed and gotten the bathroom door closed to trap them in there. 

“Hm?” 

She’s still twisting to face Aubrey so she’s caught completely by surprise when Aubrey curls her hands around Stacie’s hips and leads her further into the room, all but shoving her onto the couch and Stacie barely has time to recover before Aubrey straddles her lap and slides close. 

“Just settling into my seat,” Aubrey says and Stacie smiles widely as she finally catches on, fingers drifting up Aubrey’s thighs to her butt and squeezing softly. 

“Comfy?” 

Aubrey nods and leans in, brushing her lips against Stacie’s teasingly, smiling when Stacie tugs her closer and kisses her more firmly, tongue sweeping against her lower lip. “You’re so cheesy,” Aubrey breathes against her lips but her giggle turns into a soft moan when Stacie just kisses her harder. 

“You know you didn’t have to do all of this,” Aubrey says when they part for air, fingers curled around Stacie’s neck as she softly rakes her nails back and forth. 

“Do what?” Stacie asks, pretends to be coy about it and Aubrey smiles softly, leans in for a quick kiss. 

“The curbside pick up, the balloons, the pass,” she says slowly. “You don’t have to woo me.” 

“I like wooing you,” Stacie argues immediately. “I’m happy you’re here and I knew you’d like it.” 

“I loved it,” Aubrey corrects and Stacie chuckles, kisses Aubrey’s cheek. 

“I know it’s not easy for you to be back in North Carolina so I’m grateful,” she says, whispers it into Aubrey’s ear even though they’re alone and Aubrey’s arms tighten around Stacie. 

“I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to see you.” 

“Good,” Stacie says assertively. “Because I’m happy to see you too. And I was always going to pick you up from the airport.” 

“That so?” 

“That’s twenty minutes more with you,” Stacie says with a lascivious wink. 

“Twenty minutes to make out in the car, more like,” Aubrey says with a sharp giggle. 

“What is it with us and making out in cars?” Stacie teases, presses a series of kisses along Aubrey’s jaw and down her neck. 

“There’s something naughty about it,” Aubrey says, voice already sounding a little breathless and she hates how easily she melts against Stacie but she’s powerless to stop it, Stacie’s mouth nipping at her neck and shooting warmth down her core. “Also— _hmm_.” 

“Also what?” Stacie asks without lifting her lips from Aubrey’s skin. 

“My boarding pass said it was for the bedroom.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m scheduled to go to the Venice Film Festival the first week of September and then TIFF right after that,” Aubrey says, burying her face in the crook of Stacie’s neck. 

“Boo,” Stacie calls out softly without malice, fingers tracing random patterns against the skin of Aubrey’s back. “I have September and the first half of October off.” 

“I know,” Aubrey says, and something in her inflection gives Stacie pause, makes her wrap her arms around Aubrey’s body and slide her higher so they’re at eye level. 

“Do you?” Stacie teases, nips at her mouth. 

“I thought you could come with me and we could go away together once I’m done?” 

Stacie’s smile unfurls slowly, hand dragging along Aubrey’s back soothingly when Aubrey bites her lip. “I’d love that,” Stacie says softly and Aubrey releases her lower lip to smile. “Did you have a place in mind?” she asks, leaning in to brush her lips against the skin behind Aubrey’s ear, presses a lingering kiss there. 

“The Maldives,” Aubrey says, emboldened by Stacie’s non-verbal approval. 

“Keep talking.” 

“A friend of mine owns a villa on an island near Male and I thought it might be nice to go for a week or two.” 

“Just us?” Stacie asks, lips pulling into a smile against Aubrey’s ear. 

“Mhm-hmm,” Aubrey hums with a nod, can’t help but smile when she hears Stacie let out a small moan at the idea. 

“What is there to do there?” Stacie finally asks and Aubrey’s brows briefly knit together. 

She hadn’t really thought that far, had only thought about her and Stacie going away. “I don’t know, not much,” she finally says with a small shrug. “The villa is over the water and we can swim in the lagoon but other than that…” 

“So all we’ll be doing is each other?” Stacie can’t help but flirt, teeth tugging at Aubrey’s earlobe and Aubrey rolls her eyes when she realises what Stacie had been asking and exasperated with herself for not making that connection sooner. 

“Yes,” Aubrey says, pulling away and when she sees Stacie’s wide, excited grin she leans in for a hard kiss to try and wipe away that smug smile. 

“You want us to go away for two weeks to just have sex,” Stacie says and it’s not a question so Aubrey doesn’t dignify it with an answer but then Stacie’s grin grows even wider, pure glee emanating from the woman. “Aubrey and Stacie se—” 

“Don’t you dare say the word,” Aubrey warns, clamping her hand over Stacie’s mouth. 

Stacie nods, mumbles “I wanna say it,” against Aubrey’s palm but Aubrey just shakes her head. 

“No,” she says sternly and Stacie raises her eyebrows in challenge, mirroring Aubrey’s expression. 

Stacie sticks out her tongue, lets the tip trail over Aubrey’s palm teasingly, in an all too familiar pattern and Aubrey’s cheeks flush red as she pulls her hand away. 

“You hate the word but it’s exactly what you want to go do,” Stacie says cheekily, quickly kissing Aubrey’s lips as Aubrey wipes her wet hand against Stacie’s hip. 

“I don’t care, I can still hate the word.” 

“Hm,” Stacie hums noncommittally. “So you won’t let me say it?” 

“No,” Aubrey says. 

“What are you gonna do about it?” Stacie challenges then and Aubrey’s eyes flash dangerously. 

“We have sex now,” Aubrey says, voice low as she drags her lips along Stacie’s jaw. “I can withhold sex.” 

“That punishes you as much as it punishes me,” Stacie argues. 

“I went four years without sex, I think I’ll be fine.” 

“So why exactly are we naked on the floor?” Stacie asks pointedly. 

Aubrey stays quiet, purses her lips in defiance. 

“It’s not because you couldn’t keep your hands off me?” 

“No.” 

“Then why?” 

“Because you looked like you needed cheering up, care bear.” 

“Please,” Stacie scoffs. “Eating cake was cheering me up. There was no need for you to get naked.” 

“You say that as if you didn’t just have a mind-blowing orgasm,” Aubrey says petulantly. 

“That’s not what I’m saying. You didn’t see me being sad and think ‘Hm I know what will cheer her up, me on my knees’,” Stacie says. “I’m saying you jumped my bones because as it turns out, you can’t keep it in your pants.” 

“I kept it in my pants all those months before we had sex,” Aubrey gives. 

“You hadn’t had a taste of the Hunter then yet. Now you know how good it can be and you can’t resist,” Stacie says with a smug grin and Aubrey can’t help but roll her eyes. 

“You certainly think highly of yourself,” she comments. 

“These are straight up facts, babe,” Stacie throws back, raking her nails down Aubrey’s back and watching with a satisfied smile as Aubrey’s eyes flutter closed in an attempt to fight off a full body shiver. 

“Your ego is honestly astounding.” 

“But I’m also right,” Stacie says, dropping her voice low. “And you know how I know that?” 

“It doesn’t matter what I say because you’re going to tell me anyway,” Aubrey teases lightly, dipping her head to scrape her teeth along Stacie’s neck. 

“True,” Stacie says with a soft laugh. “I know I’m right because you’re inviting me to some remote place in the Maldives for sexcapades.” 

Aubrey groans loudly, drops her face against Stacie’s neck with a growl. “I told you not to say that word.” 

“See how you’re fighting the word and not the actual sentiment behind it?” Stacie whispers into her ear, hand drifting down Aubrey’s back and along the curve of her ass to slide between Aubrey’s legs, smiling when she hears Aubrey’s breath hitch. “It shows I’m right.” 

“You’re fucking insufferable,” Aubrey says but her voice carries no weight, her nails digging into Stacie’s side to try and keep her composure. 

“What are you going to do about it?” Stacie taunts, moving her fingers more firmly against Aubrey and Aubrey can’t help but shudder, a strangled moan falling from her lips as she considers her options. 

She finally lifts her face from Stacie’s neck to press a harsh kiss to Stacie’s lips, biting down on the brunette’s lips and tugging. Stacie’s rhythm falters and it gives Aubrey enough leeway to pull away with a challenging smile as she shifts over Stacie. 

“I’m going to sit on your face to shut you up,” Aubrey husks lowly and Stacie’s eyes flash heatedly as her lips unfurl in a slow, excited smile. 

“Well what are you waiting for?” 

 

* * *

 

“I know we’re not allowed to talk about it,” Stacie says, stabbing her fork into a piece of potato. “But I just want to say how happy I am that you’re a part of this secret project.” 

Aubrey’s eyes narrow as she regards Stacie closely, watches as the woman takes a bite of the potato and smiles widely as she chews, raising her eyebrows knowingly. 

“You seem way more excited about this than I am,” Aubrey comments, gestures at the onions that Stacie’s picked out of her sandwich. 

“Go ahead,” Stacie says quickly, even though her face looks disgusted as Aubrey takes Stacie’s discarded onions and adds them to her own sandwich. “God, that’s gross. I can’t believe I let you kiss me with that mouth.” 

“You let me do a lot more than kiss you with this mouth,” Aubrey flirts, purposefully taking a large bite out of her sandwich and holding Stacie’s eye contact. 

Stacie rolls her eyes and picks up their conversation again, “All I’m saying is that it’s your first real action movie—or, series?” 

“Three,” Aubrey adds and Stacie nods in understanding. 

“It’s your first action trilogy and you’re going to look super hot and sweaty and dirty.” 

Aubrey tilts her head as she considers Stacie’s words, doesn’t want to laugh at how open Stacie is being about her desires, and she settles on, “It’s not my first action movie. I did Lake Land.” 

“That was set in space. I wouldn’t really consider it an action movie.” 

“I had a stunt double,” Aubrey points out. 

“Did you have a workout regime?” Stacie asks and Aubrey reluctantly shakes her head. “Then no.” 

“You’re an action movie pro, any tips?” Aubrey finally says. 

“So many,” Stacie says with a wink. “And I’ll tell you all of them when I’m a little less distracted by the idea of you wielding a whip.” 

“You’ll get to see me wield one in 2020.” 

“That’s so far away,” Stacie pouts. 

“We start filming in 2019.” 

“Better.” Stacie grins and Aubrey shakes her head with fond exasperation, finishing her sandwich. 

She looks up in time to see Stacie looking at something over her shoulder, frowning softly. 

“We have to go,” Stacie says, voice tempered and Aubrey’s immediately concerned. 

“What’s going on?” she asks, starts to twist in her seat to look behind her but Stacie’s hand shoots out and wraps around her wrist, preventing her from turning. 

“Don’t look,” she says strongly. “We have to go, now.” 

Aubrey’s confused but she doesn’t want to fight Stacie on this, but before they can even get out of their seats, the hostess of the restaurant is standing by their table with a wry smile. 

“I’m so sorry,” she interrupts, looking at Aubrey and missing Stacie’s gestures to stop. “There’s a couple out front asking to see you, Ms. Posen.” 

“No,” Stacie says sharply and the hostess turns to her, shocked by the words but Aubrey doesn’t, twists in her seat to look at the entrance to the restaurant and her blood runs cold, frown easing when she sees who it is. 

She knows Stacie notices her connect the dots, and when she turns back she can see Stacie’s mouth move as she asks her if she’s okay but Aubrey can’t hear her, suddenly can’t hear anything but the sound of blood rushing in her ears, drowning out everything and making her feel like she’s underwater. 

She feels dread grip her, like a tight hand wrapped around her throat and she’s having trouble breathing, the corners of her vision going spotty. She needs to leave and she needs to get out quick and she stands up abruptly, stumbles briefly before finding her footing, not sure how it happens but she’s in the hallway to the bathrooms and there’s a hand urging her into the accessibility bathroom and she still feels like something is trying to choke the life out of her and she barely makes it to the toilet before throwing up. 

She’s not sure how long she’s there for but it can’t be long because suddenly there are fingers in her hair, brushing strands away from her clammy forehead and Aubrey burns with shame and embarrassment as she throws up, even after she realises that it’s Stacie on the floor behind her quickly braiding her hair. 

She’s barely aware of Stacie shifting her so she’s sitting right behind her but when her throwing up slows, Aubrey’s infinitely grateful for the tissue handed to her as she wipes her mouth and that she leans back to find Stacie’s body there, a loose arm wrapped around her middle. 

The world is still eerily silent as her heart beats a mile a minute in her chest but at least she no longer feels like the breath is being choked out of her even if the strong sense of dread is hard to shake. 

Stacie’s hold on her is light but her fingers softly stroke along Aubrey’s hip and she finds herself focusing more and more on the small, gentle touch, Stacie’s hands warm and grounding against her skin. 

She twists in Stacie’s embrace and the woman pulls her closer, cradles Aubrey’s head against her and Aubrey can tell that she’s talking, can feel the rumble of Stacie’s voice where her forehead is pressed against Stacie’s neck and she tries to focus on that, tries to calm the loud rush of blood in her ears. 

Aubrey concentrates on the hum of Stacie’s voice, tries to crawl her way out of the soundless ocean she’s drowning in and she knows she’s silently crying but slowly, steadily, sound starts filtering in. 

She doesn’t hear the words but she realises that Stacie is singing to her, tapping her fingers in a beat against Aubrey’s thigh to go along with the voice. 

“Follow my voice, sunshine,” Stacie says and Aubrey barely hears it but she frowns as she tries to focus really hard, works on concentrating on the sound of Stacie’s voice and her hearing slowly returns, Stacie’s soft voice loud in her ears because of her proximity and Aubrey frowns against Stacie’s neck when she finally figures out what Stacie is singing. 

“You want to marry me?” Aubrey gasps out, voice cracking with the effort and she feels Stacie chuckle then. 

_“Is it the look in your eyes, or is it this dancing juice? Who cares baby, I think I wanna marry you,”_ Stacie sings, ending the song as she presses her lips to Aubrey’s forehead in a quick, reassuring kiss. “Any requests?”  

“More,” Aubrey whispers so Stacie starts singing again and Aubrey carefully follows the sound, notices her tears slowing. Stacie is warm and solid and Aubrey curls even further into her as she steals Stacie’s body heat, feeling the cold seep out of her skin, her body no longer shaking as violently as it had been before. 

“I’ve got you, Aubrey,” Stacie softly whispers, interrupting her own singing, shifting them so she can lean back against the wall and fully take Aubrey onto her lap, wrapping her arms around the blonde and holding her tightly. “You’re okay, we’re okay,” Stacie coos, fingers brushing rogue locks of hair from Aubrey’s forehead where they’ve fallen out of the loosely tied braid. 

“I’m sorry, I—” Aubrey starts to say, tears springing to her eyes again but Stacie’s fingers still against Aubrey’s head, urge her to face Stacie. 

“Stop, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Stacie says strongly, but her expression is soft, eyes sympathetic and worried and Aubrey wipes angrily at her tears, hates crying when she’s like this. “Do you want to take something?” Stacie offers carefully but Aubrey shakes her head and she pulls back a little to hone in on Stacie’s reassuring smile. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m okay,” Aubrey says in a small voice and even though she’s not, saying it out loud helps and they both know it. “What were they doing here?” she pleads, suddenly remembering the reason they’re on the bathroom floor of Stacie’s favourite local restaurant. 

“I don’t know,” Stacie says, cradling Aubrey’s face in her hands and brushing away the last of her tears. “They’ve been told to leave.” 

Aubrey’s starting to tremble again and Stacie’s immediately concerned with stopping that so she flexes her fingers against Aubrey’s skin. 

“Look at me, baby.” Aubrey looks wild when wet eyes meet Stacie’s and Stacie smiles tenderly, leans in to press her lips to Aubrey’s forehead in a lingering kiss. “You’re safe, I got you.” 

The fist that Aubrey has tightly curled into Stacie’s shirt loosens somewhat as Aubrey slumps back against Stacie. “I’m so tired.” 

Stacie feels Aubrey’s tears against her skin, knows they’re more out of frustration than anything so she twists her head to kiss the side of Aubrey’s head. 

“We’ll go as soon as you stop shaking, okay?” Stacie offers and Aubrey nods gratefully. “Jess told me I need to ask you dumb things and I need to get you to make lists.” 

Aubrey frowns at Stacie’s words, knows she hadn’t been in the bathroom alone long enough for Stacie to call Jessica but she can’t quite muster up the brain power needed to focus on how Stacie knows that, especially when Stacie keeps talking. 

“C’mon baby,” Stacie prompts again. 

“What?” 

“Top ten best smiles in Hollywood,” Stacie repeats and Aubrey closes her eyes to concentrate. “Go.” 

“The Rock,” Aubrey says softly. 

“Interesting first choice but I’ll take it,” Stacie quips, hand softly rubbing Aubrey’s back. “Who else?” 

“Julia Roberts.” 

“Duh.” 

“Gabrielle Union.” 

“Oh, _yes_.”  

“Anne Hathaway… Rachel McAdams… Gina Rodriguez…” 

“Hang on, I see you’ve conveniently snuck Rachel in there,” Stacie comments and when Aubrey turns her face into Stacie’s neck, Stacie knows she’s almost entirely grounded again and Stacie’s concern over Aubrey’s state lowers considerably, making way for some light teasing. “You think Rachel McAdams has a top 10 best Hollywood smile?” 

“Yes,” Aubrey says, cheeks flushing. 

“So you’re definitely flying to Toronto when we start filming Voyager to meet her,” Stacie taunts. “Who else?” 

“Your smile,” Aubrey mumbles, fingers drumming against Stacie’s side where her hand is curled around a hip and Stacie pulls away enough to shoot Aubrey a brilliant smile at that answer. Aubrey wants to say something smart or quippy but Stacie’s wide smile is blinding and even though she’s so tired, Aubrey can’t help but bask in the warmth of Stacie’s smile. “Yeah, that one.” 

“Three more,” Stacie urges, feeling Aubrey relax against her. 

“Hm?” 

“Top ten smiles, The Rock, Julia Roberts, Gabrielle Union, Anne Hathaway, Rachel McAdams, Gina Rodriguez and me, that’s seven. Three more.” 

“Michael B. Jordan.” 

“Mhm-hmm.” 

“Lucy Liu.” 

“Very good choice.” 

“Hugh Jackman.” 

Stacie’s smile twitches with amusement but then Aubrey pulls away to look at her and Stacie’s smile softens. 

“Welcome back, my love,” Stacie says, softly kissing Aubrey’s forehead. “Do you want to go back to the hotel to take a nap?” 

Aubrey nods, sighs in satisfaction and then Stacie gently urges her off her lap, stands up and extends a hand to Aubrey. The woman is still shaky but she pulls herself up with the help of Stacie’s hand, and Stacie whispers into her ear that she’ll be right back, waits for Aubrey to nod before leaving the bathroom, returning a few minutes later with their bags. 

“Let’s go.” 

 

* * *

 

She wakes up from her nap feeling well-rested and warm and when she rolls onto her back, she finds Stacie staring down at her with a smile, thick-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. 

“Hi there sleeping beauty,” Stacie says and Aubrey smiles at the nickname. 

“What time is it?” 

“Almost five. You were out for about three hours,” Stacie explains, shifting so she can lay down and face Aubrey. “How do you feel?” 

“A lot better,” Aubrey says, cuddling up to Stacie and closing her eyes with a small sigh. 

“I knew the nap would do you good,” Stacie says with a soft chuckle, leaning in and kissing Aubrey’s temple, lips lingering. 

Something about her words gives Aubrey pause, her brain connecting loose sentences together and she suddenly remembers Stacie mentioning Jessica. 

“When did you talk to Jess?” 

“Hm?” Stacie hums, not following. 

“You said you talked to Jessica about what to do,” Aubrey explains in a hushed voice. “When did that conversation happen?” 

“After our third date,” Stacie says. 

“After you stayed with me?” 

“No, before that,” Stacie corrects. 

“So after our second date?” Aubrey asks in confusion.

“I talked to her after you took me to the drive-in,” Stacie explains. 

“That was our first date,” Aubrey says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“Uh, no it wasn’t.” 

“I’m not counting our fake-dating dates,” Aubrey argues. 

“I’m not either,” Stacie gives. “I count you and me doing stuff together just us.” 

“Yeah,” Aubrey says. 

“So our first date was Christmas,” Stacie points out.

“What?” Aubrey says, reeling back a bit. “No it wasn’t.” 

“Yes, it was. We were there just us, we had fun, and you kissed me.” 

“We kissed for the camera.” 

“There was tongue. That wasn’t pretend.” 

“We were friends who were still trying to sell a relationship,” Aubrey argues but her cheeks are slowly turning red at the reminder of how she’d gotten carried away while kissing Stacie before suddenly getting hung up on something else. “Wait, if you think that was our first date, what was our second date?” 

“I know that was our first date,” Stacie jibes. “And our second date was in New York when we went to the special SAGE viewing and had midnight dumplings.” 

“We need to figure out our anniversary,” Aubrey says suddenly and Stacie smiles at Aubrey’s attempt to detour from an argument she’s clearly losing. 

“We still haven’t talked about our future, but okay,” Stacie reminds, drags her finger down Aubrey’s arm. “Do we go with when we became friends? First kiss? First date?” 

“Well we clearly can’t agree on what our first date was so not that. First kiss?” Aubrey offers. 

Stacie shrugs. “I know we have a clear official first kiss but we’d kissed a bunch of times before that. Doesn’t really feel like we should make it our anniversary.” 

“Why did you talk to Jessica about my panic attacks?” Aubrey asks softly and Stacie almost gets whiplash from the turns this conversation is taking but she recovers quickly. 

“I wanted to know what I could do to help you if it ever happened again,” Stacie explains with a bashful shrug. “I hate that I’ve caused you so many and I feel so guilty about it so I wanted to know how to deal with it if I ever accidentally…” 

“Stacie…” Aubrey breathes, not sure how to phrase her immense gratitude but when Stacie looks at her, she blushes softly, recognising Aubrey’s reverent expression for what it is. “I love you so much, you know that?” 

“Yeah,” Stacie says with a lopsided smile. “I love you too.” 

“God really did spend a little extra time when he made you,” Aubrey says, the words coming out before she has a chance to stop them and Aubrey closes her eyes quickly as her cheeks grow warm. 

She doesn’t see Stacie’s wide grin, but she knows it’s there. 

“I can’t believe you accuse me of being cheesy when you say shit like that,” Stacie says, leaning in and coaxing Aubrey into a languid kiss, chuckling into her mouth when Aubrey easily gives in and kisses Stacie back. 

 

* * *

 

“So I know we haven’t been seeing each other long…” Ashley starts, clears her throat as she stares off to the side and Jessica looks up at her with an open and earnest expression, pausing with her pencil hovering just above her sketchpad. “But I have to move out of here in a few months and I remembered you mentioned your lease was almost up and—” 

“We should move in together,” Jessica says with a small smile and Ashley’s mouth drops open at the cavalier way Jessica had managed the words. Jessica giggles at Ashley’s small frown, at her adorably dumbstruck face. 

“You let me stumble through that even though you knew what I was going to say?” 

“Yes,” Jessica says and Ashley’s frown deepens. “You’re cute when you’re nervous.” 

“You really want to move in together?” 

“Yes,” Jessica says, finally putting aside her sketchbook and pencil to fully turn to Ashley. “We’re always together and I can’t remember the last time I was in town and spent the night alone in my bed.” 

Ashley finally smiles, relaxes when she realises that they’re on the same page. “We should move in together.” 

“Yes,” Jessica says. “Start looking soon?” 

“I’d love that,” Ashley says, smile widening at Jessica’s pleased look. Ashley shifts forward in her chair and Jessica meets her halfway for a slow kiss that ends way too quickly for Ashley’s liking. 

“Is there anything else?” Jessica asks, playing with a lock of Ashley’s hair, watches the slight confusion flit over Ashley’s face. 

“Not really.” 

“Okay,” Jessica says, leaning back in her chair. “Now sit back and stop moving.” 

Ashley laughs at the order as she leans back on the couch, going back to the position she’d been in earlier and watching out of the corner of her eye as Jessica picks up her sketchpad and pencil again, settling in comfortably before returning to her drawing. 

 

* * *

 

“What’s wrong, baby?” Aubrey asks softly when she slides into bed and Stacie immediately curls into her, burying her face in the crook of Aubrey’s neck. “You’ve been on edge ever since you got back.” 

“Have not,” Stacie mumbles and Aubrey shifts onto her back to wrap an arm around Stacie and start raking her fingers through her hair softly.

“You were itching for a fight earlier,” she says, quickly kissing Stacie’s temple. 

“I’m sorry about lunch,” Stacie says. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. I really am happy to see you.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Aubrey whispers. “I didn’t have time to give you the argument you deserve, anyway.” 

Stacie chuckles at that as she snakes a hand under Aubrey’s camisole and softly runs the pads of her fingers over soft skin. She lets out a long, deep sigh and closes her eyes, wants to bask in the feeling of touching her girlfriend again after so long apart. 

“Please talk to me, care bear,” Aubrey says in a hushed voice, face turned into Stacie’s hair. 

“I haven’t been sleeping,” Stacie admits, feels tears of frustration bubble up but she doesn’t want to worry Aubrey more than she has to. 

“What?” Aubrey asks and Stacie immediately hears the panic in her voice, the concern there. “At all?” 

“A few hours a night if I’m really exhausted,” Stacie says with a shrug. “And even when I do fall asleep it’s not until really late and I’ve had early call times all throughout filming.” 

“When did this start?” Aubrey asks, tries to keep her voice level because she doesn’t want Stacie feeling guilty about not telling her. 

“A few days after you left North Carolina.” 

“That was four weeks ago.” 

“Yeah, well…” 

“Maybe you just miss sleeping next to me,” Aubrey teases, tries to lighten the mood because she doesn’t like how downtrodden Stacie sounds and Stacie laughs, kisses Aubrey’s neck quickly but when they calm again, settle, her mind doesn’t let go of that thought. A part of her knows that Aubrey’s right because she never seems to have trouble falling asleep when they’re sharing a bed and that’s scary but somehow Stacie doesn’t feel scared by it, knows she usually would have been worried about how close they’ve gotten and how much they seem to rely on each other. She doesn’t have time to dwell on it, because Aubrey continues, “You must be exhausted.” 

“Hm?” Stacie asks, having been too deep in thought to hear Aubrey’s words. 

“You must be so tired,” Aubrey repeats, and Stacie sighs and nods, moans softly when Aubrey rubs her back soothingly. “What’s your schedule like tomorrow?” 

“I have an interview and a photoshoot with Vanity Fair in the afternoon.” 

“So I should let you sleep when I leave?” Aubrey asks and Stacie nods, eyes closing slowly as she focuses on the feeling of Aubrey’s fingers carding through her hair and her other hand smoothing along Stacie’s back. 

“What were you up to today?” Stacie manages to ask even though her voice is low and soft and it takes a lot of effort for her to get the words out. 

“I had a couple of hair and make-up tests this morning. My hair has been washed about four times today so that was nice and it’s gonna be ridiculously greasy tomorrow,” Aubrey starts and Stacie lets out a quick breath in lieu of a laugh, nuzzling Aubrey’s neck as she yawns. “I had lunch with you and then I met with the whole production team and with Steven,” Aubrey continues, her voice low and soothing and Stacie’s not sure if Aubrey’s doing it on purpose or not but she finds herself focusing on the slight melody of Aubrey’s voice, not even hearing the words anymore. 

“We sat down and talked about his vision for the character and his preliminary ideas for the direction of the story while Hylda and his manager and a team of people started talking budgets and schedules. They’re thinking of revealing the decision around October so that Steven and I and the rest of the production can have some off time before people start hounding us about the casting…” 

Aubrey stops talking, smiles when she feels Stacie’s hand drop away from her body, feels Stacie’s steady and even breathing against her neck and closes her eyes in relief that Stacie fell asleep so quickly. 

 

* * *

 

“Hey,” Aubrey says when she closes the cabin door behind her, surprised to find Stacie sitting up and watching television. “I thought you were going to sleep?”  

“I _was_ but then I texted my doctor who suggested I stay up and sleep early tonight to beat the jet lag,” Stacie explains.  

“Not a bad idea,” Aubrey says but then she crawls onto the converted couch and curls up with her head in Stacie’s lap, reaching for the heavy blanket and sighing softly when Stacie helps her pull it over her shoulders and adjusts it to tuck Aubrey in.  

“You should take a nap,” Stacie says, amusement clear and Aubrey yawns, nods. “Did you guys figure out your glam looks for the week?” 

“Yes, but I left Renato and Paula fighting about updos versus loose hair and how it would look with my evening outfits,” Aubrey says with a dismissive hand gesture towards the closed door.  

“Did they have plans for me?” 

“Oh, yes,” Aubrey says, shooting Stacie a knowing look. “So that we don’t clash.” 

Aubrey rolls her eyes and Stacie just laughs.  

“I know you’re going to be busy this week but if you can spare some time, Rachel invited us over for lunch or dinner or something,” Stacie says and Aubrey squirms onto her back to look up at Stacie.  

“I hate you,” she grumbles.  

“I’m on a mission now,” Stacie says with a cheeky smile.

“Is that why you insisted on watching Creed yesterday? So you could show me Michael B. Jordan’s smile?” 

“No,” Stacie says but Aubrey narrows her eyes. “Maybe. Whatever. Rachel’s my friend now and she lives in Toronto and she’ll also be doing TIFF events so...” 

“Hmm,” Aubrey hums so Stacie leans down and gives her an upside-down kiss.  

Aubrey sighs happily, reaching up to keep Stacie close when the plane hits some turbulence.  

“You know I was thinking…” Stacie starts when they pull apart, fingers ghosting down Aubrey’s neck.  

Aubrey shakes her head to fight off a shiver as she settles back comfortably, looking up at Stacie. “What?”  

“This whole anniversary thing…”  

Stacie smiles coyly when Aubrey’s eyes snap to hers and Stacie can see that Aubrey understands the true weight of the conversation they’re dancing around.  

“Tell me,” Aubrey says, reaching out to grasp Stacie’s fingers and prevent them from dipping under the blanket, tangles their fingers to hold her hand and squeeze it softly.  

“Getting married would give us a very easy anniversary date to remember.”  

“Is this a proposal?” Aubrey asks, voice level as she blinks up at Stacie.  

“No,” Stacie scoffs immediately and Aubrey arches an eyebrow so her expression eases. “We’re not there yet,” she amends with a knowing grin and Aubrey finally breaks out into a smile, eyes twinkling with mirth and Stacie takes that as a good sign. “But I’m saying if—when—we get married, we could just use that as our anniversary date.”  

“I like that idea,” Aubrey says with a coy smile.  

“Yeah?”  

“Mhm-hmm,” Aubrey hums, nods. “And just to be clear, that _wasn’t_  a proposal?”  

“No.”  

“Good,” Aubrey says with a resolute nod. 

“Good?” Stacie asks, a little affronted but also intrigued by Aubrey’s coy smile.  

“In a relationship without clear gender roles, like for example ours, there’s always the question of who gets to propose,” Aubrey says casually, no longer looking at Stacie because she’s playing with Stacie’s long fingers.  

“And, what, you think it gets to be you?” Stacie can’t help but challenge.  

“I guess we’ll see,” she says lightly but there’s a steely determination in her eyes that brings a smile to Stacie’s lips. 

“We will indeed,” Stacie says, leaning down again to brush her mouth against Aubrey’s. “I love you.”  

“And I love you.”  

 

* * *

 

“Thank you so much, Aubrey,” the woman says, closing her notebook and offering Aubrey a handshake, which she happily gives.  

“You’re welcome. Do you have everything you need?” Aubrey asks, glancing sideways as the cameraman starts packing up but the reporter hesitates.  

She opens her mouth to say something but then Stacie moves closer, offering Aubrey a bottle of water and lightly touching the small of Aubrey’s back with her fingertips.  

“I have a personal question, completely off the record,” the woman starts and Aubrey turns back to her and Stacie shifts so she can also look at the reporter.  

“Oh, you weren’t finished, I’m sorry, I’ll go,” Stacie says with a quick smile but the reporter’s already shaking her head, halting her.  

“No, it’s okay. Amanda Lawson, Toronto Star.”  

“Stacie Conrad,” Stacie says, shakes her hand.  

“Honour to meet you, I’m a huge fan,” Amanda says and Stacie smiles, softens slightly when she realises she really hasn’t interrupted.  

“You had a question?” Aubrey reminds her and the reporter turns to Aubrey with a reserved smile.  

“I hope I’m not offending you in any way but I was wondering how you manage to keep your time together special?” Amanda asks, eyes flickering between Stacie and Aubrey. “Things seem to be going really well for you even though it’s like you’re always apart.”

“We find the time,” Aubrey says.  

“We make time,” Stacie can’t help but correct and Aubrey chuckles as she nods in agreement, nudges Stacie’s shoulder with her own before sliding her hand down Stacie’s arm to link their fingers. 

“What does the future hold for Aubrey Posen and Stacie Conrad?”  

“You know what, Amanda?” Stacie starts, turning away from the woman to look at Aubrey, the rest of the world falling away when their eyes lock. Stacie’s gaze drops briefly to Aubrey’s lips when a genuine smile ghosts across her face before being replaced by her more controlled camera smile and Stacie feels her heart soar. Aubrey’s fingers twitch where Stacie’s holding her hand and Stacie looks up at her eyes again, finds them twinkling and knows Aubrey feels the same way. “We’re…”  

“Figuring it out.”  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for one last time, leave me comments and love


End file.
